To Speak for the Dead
by CanonAntithesis
Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want. TroyPay, of course. Sharpay centric. Penname changed from GimmeABeat to CanonAntithesis
1. The Gift

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer:The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay gains a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, still in the summer.

**Chapter 1: A Gift You Can't Return**

What's that word? ... Oh yeah, surreal. Yep, that's it ... surreal --- sur...real. Even saying the word feels sort of surreal. Well... that's not quite right. She's not actually _feeling_ anything. She's just floating. This is nice and serene --- that's another good word --- serene.

"Sharpay! Oh my God, Sharpay! You've got to do something. Save her!"

Now she's just pissed. She had this whole surreal, serene thing going and her stupid brother just goes and blows it all.

She looks down --- down? Yeah, that's right, down. How'd she get _up_ in order for her to be looking down in the first place? And floating ... yep, she's up _and_ she's floating _and _looking down at ... ewwww! She's watching two girls making out at the poolside of Lava Springs Country Club. She'd recognize Lava Springs anywhere. And she'd definitely have a talk with Fulton as soon as she can to put a stop to this kind of unacceptable behavior.

Anyway, she's looking down at these two girls making out. Enough with the eww's. She notices that the one on the bottom, the blonde, is pretty hot (in a completely heterosexual, admiring sort of way, of course). She can't see her face very well, but she's wearing a chic, stylish, XOXO designer bikini and even though she's sopping wet she still looks great.

But God... the brunette chick on top (did she say, ew, yet?), she's wearing a red one piece utilitarian swimsuit which really does nothing for her figure. Didn't anyone tell her to keep red off her butt? That color makes everyone look huge, but this dark girl with her big ass up in the air --- double ewww!

Suddenly, Troy Bolton runs up with a medium sized white briefcase in his hands. She'd recognize him anywhere, too. But what's he doing here? And why's he talking to Big Ass?

Ohhh... she's starting to float up higher away from all the excitement. Now, Big Ass is moving off of Hotty Blonde --- thank God. And she gets a good look at the stylish blonde. She recognizes her as ... herself. _She's me!_ She's Sharpay Evans --- star of stage, singer of songs, dancer of dances and so on.

That doesn't make any sense. How can she be in two places at the same time? And she keeps getting further and further away. This is just getting interesting and now she can barely see what Troy's doing. He opens the white briefcase and Big Ass, whom she now recognizes as Gabirella Montez (oops!), is reading some sort of instructions to him. Note to self: Give Gabriella some much needed fashion advise --- like how to properly disguise her huge rear-end.

Whoa --- baby! Troy's touching her chest. _Damn it! Why can't I feel that?_ Gabriella is instructing him on where to place these little round disks on various locations on her chest. First Montez is kissing her and now she's telling Troy where to touch her. Life is so unfair. And still with the floating away thing... Man, she wants to see what's going on.

Now she can barely see Gabriella and Troy, but she can tell they've stepped away from her and Gabriella is fiddling with the briefcase.

Pain! Holy shit! That hurts! Suddenly, she's not floating anymore. Instead, she's being ripped out of the sky and shoved back into her body with all the finesse and gentleness of Simon Cowell in the first round of American Idol.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Beep ... beep ... beep.

Sharpay slowly opens her eyes and cautiously looks around the room, quickly realizing that she's in a small, but pleasant enough hospital room. Everything is very sketchy in her memory. Gasping for breath when she falls in the pool, her lungs filling with water, blackness, floating, pain in her chest, and then, people yelling and cheering and a siren and then ... waking up here. Something is tickling her nose and she reaches up and feels the rubberized prongs of the oxygen tube inserted into her nostrils.

"What happened?", she asks aloud to the empty room.

"I think I've lost my ring. Can you help me find it?", replies a male voice.

"Aaah! Who the heck are you?", Sharpay demands, startled. Had he been standing there the whole time? "And what are you doing in my room?"

A thin, elderly man is standing at the foot of her bed. He's wearing a navy blue warm-up suit and tennis shoes and looks like he just got off the retirement home courtesy bus.

"I didn't mean to scare you, but I was in this room before you, my dear. Let me introduce myself; I'm Calvin Moore. And I've been asking around all day, but you're the only one who's taken any notice of me."

"Lucky me", Sharpay says sarcastically. "What do you want me to do?", she snaps.

"Please, would you just look around? It's my wedding ring and it's very special to me."

"Okaaaay", she huffs.

She haphazardly looks around the room without moving from the bed. She doesn't see any ring, but she does see a sea of roses, pink roses. Those are her favorites and there must be at least six dozen bouquets sitting around the room. _Aaah, how sweet. They must be from my adoring fans._

"Miss? Please, could you look a little harder? I'm not sure how much time I have", the old man insists.

"Pushy, much!", she snaps, but she does reluctantly get out of the bed after pulling the annoying oxygen tube out of her nose. "Now, don't even think about trying to look at my backside in this skimpy hospital gown", she warns.

She starts to rummage around on the small night stand. It's also covered in roses and Sharpay loses focus for a minute.

"Try in the drawer", he suggests from the other side of the room.

She jerks open the drawer and there, under The Bible is a small gold band.

"Hey, what about that!", she exclaims, "I found it."

With the ring held between her thumb and forefinger, Sharpay whirls around to show the old man, but he's gone.

"Hey, old man!", she calls, "I found it."

Weird! He couldn't have just disappeared. Sharpay stomps over to the door and flings it open with the intention of storming into the hallway to find the old man when she runs smack into Troy Bolton. He reaches out to balance her by holding onto her shoulders. She feels oddly comforted by the gesture, but she's on a mission.

"Troy! Where did he go?", she demands as she looks up and down the hall. She shakes off his grip, but moves her own hand to his arm; she likes to be the one in control.

"Where did who go?"

"That old man. You must have seen him. He went out only a few seconds ago."

"We didn't see anyone, Sharpay", Gabriella answers and Sharpay looks over and notices her for the first time with an annoyed frown.

"That's impossible."

Just then, a small, weasel-looking man wearing green hospital scrubs walks up.

"Excuse me. I work in the ... _basement _and I'm looking for something ... a piece of jewelry. It might have been left here by the previous ... _resident_. Do you mind if I take a look?"

"You mean Mr. Moore's ring?", Sharpay asks as she holds up the ring.

"Yes, how did you know about that?", Weasel asks in surprise.

"Mr. Moore came in my room and insisted that I look for it and then, he didn't even have the decency to wait. He just rushed out."

Weasel goes suddenly pale. "But ... but that's impossible."

"Look, do you want the ring or not?" She's getting really annoyed.

"Of course", he says nervously as she drops the ring into his now sweaty palm. "I'll make sure he gets this back."

"What..ever. Just tell him to hang on it better in the future."

Weasel just looks at her strangely and then, scurries away.

Sharpay looks after the odd little man and only then, does she realize that she still has her hand on Troy's arm. She looks over to see Gabriella's disapproving gaze and drops her hand. She instantly feels a chill run down her spine. The hallway is filled with people, but they're ... well, odd looking. And they seem to be lost in their own little world. None of them seems to be aware of the others.

"Creepy", Sharpay mutters.

"Yeah, he was", Troy agrees.

She looks up at him in surprise, having forgotten for a minute that he was there.

"What? No, not the weasel", Troy snickers in agreement and Gabriella takes on a disapproving look. "All these other people." Sharpay indicates up and down the hallway. "They're weird."

"What people, Sharpay?", Gabriella asks, "They're no one here except that nurse way down at the other end ... and us, of course."

"What are you talking about? There must be, at least, 30 people milling about out here."

"Maybe we should get you back in your room", Troy suggests. "You probably shouldn't even be out of bed yet."

"Sure", Sharpay agrees vaguely. She doesn't understand what's wrong with them, but this hallway is creeping her out, so she's all for going back inside. Then, maybe she can figure out what's going on.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Six hours later and we wishes she had _never _figured what what was going on. Troy and Gabriella stayed for about half an hour and though she was oddly comforted by Troy's presence, she found Gabriella very irritating --- even more so than usual. She kept going on and on about CT scans and possible brain damage.

Now she's got it all figured out and she doesn't like it at all. Sharpay's sitting slumped down in the bed, pretending to read her latest issue of Cosmo with Ryan's iPod blaring in her ears. It's the only way she can stay sane. Her parents are supposed to be completing the paperwork to check her out of this loony bin and Ryan has disappeared, which is okay. He just keeps looking at her with this strange bit of sympathy in his eyes. Sharpay thinks he's been listening to Gabriella's talk about brain damage. Her CT scan came back fine, by the way. Which is no surprise, Sharpay knows she's isn't crazy. She peeks up from behind the magazine just to check. Damn! They're still there.

She continues to try and concentrate on the article she's been reading about _7 Kinds of Sex All Couples Need_. Great, that will be really useful. She hadn't had any good sex since that hunky Spanish lifeguard from last summer.

She's right in the middle of the description of Show-Off Sex: How to Masturbate in Front of Your Guy when a cold hand grips her arm.

She screams, drops the magazine, flings the iPod away, fully expecting to see Mrs. Masters from her third grade C.C.D. class to be standing in front of her with a disappoving frown on her face.

Instead, she sees a tall, elegantly dressed older man in a three-piece Brooks Brothers suit, like the kind her father prefers.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Evans, but I've been calling you for several minutes. I guess you couldn't hear me because of the music", he chuckles as he bends down to pick up Ryan's iPod off the floor. The music can be heard clearly coming from the earbuds.

He hands it out to Sharpay and she takes it from him, turning it off, before giving him a suspicious once-over.

"Please forgive my rudeness. I'm Montague Forester", he announces with a flourish as he produces a small white business card which he presents to her.

She looks at it skeptically. "PSY Investigations?", she mumbles.

"Yes, you might have seen our infommercials on cable access."

"No."

"Be that as it may, I think we may be of some help to you. Oh, I should explain... we received a call on our toll free tip line from a Mr. Malcolm Reynolds. He reported a Class 3 interaction involving you which happened this morning."

"Malcolm Reynolds? I don't know any Malcolm Reynolds. Wait... does he look like a weasel?", Sharpay asks as she guesses who this Malcolm guy is.

"I don't know; we communicated telephonically. He works in the morgue, here at the hospital and he reported the Class 3 interaction between you and a recently deceased gentleman by the name of...", he pauses to check his small notebook.

"Mr. Moore?", Sharpay provides cautiously.

"Yes! That's it! So you did attempt contact with Calvin Moore of the Restview Retirement Village."

"I don't know where he lived. He just wanted me to help him find his wedding ring. He seemed like a nice enough old man, so I helped him. And now this...", she dramatically indicates out to the empty room.

"What?", asks a puzzled Mr. Reynolds.

"You can't see them either? I thought since you're from this PSY place that you'd be able..."

"No. Unfortunately, I don't have the gift", he says with a sign.

"_Gift?_ You call this a _gift?_ They won't leave me alone."

"How ... how many are here?", Mr. Reynolds asks cautiously.

"Hmmm, four, no three. The fat guy left. There's a little kid playing solitaire at the end of my bed; an old lady primping in the bathroom mirror; and a sad man looking out the window, like he's waiting for someone to pick him up", Sharpay explains as calmly as she can.

"This is incredible! Have they tried to contact you?"

"The little kid asked me if I wanted to play Crazy-8's, but I ignored him."

"Oh, outstanding! You simply must come with me, Miss Evans. Your gift is truly remarkable. We need to study you more carefully, teach you how to control it better...

"Whoa, whoa, and whoa! I don't want to be studied and I don't want to learn anything about this gift, unless it's how to return it."

"Return it? You don't understand how rare this is. It's remarkable. Well, I haven't found a Level Six Medium in over 25 years."

"Yeah? Well, you haven't found me either. My family's going to be taking me home soon and I'm going to forget all about this _gift_. And I'd like to start by forgetting about you."

The older man sighs deeply with resignation. "Please, Miss Evans, at least keep my card ... in case you need me."

"Right ... like that'd happen", she scoffs, but she tucks the card into her jean's pocket anyway.

She reaches for the iPod, turns it on, closes her eyes, and hopes they all just go away. She does not want to become some little kid in a Bruce Willis movie. _Ooooo, I see dead people. That's __**never**__ going to happen!_

TBC

Looky at me with a new story already. And don't worry, Hardy's Girl, I'm working on our prologue too.

Let me know what you think. Please R&R.

I hope everyone understood what was going on in the beginning with the whole out of body experience.

The white briefcase was an AED or an **Automated External Defibrillator. **That's what will really save your life if your heart stops from a heart attack or drowning or something like that. It's like an idiot proof version of when in hospital shows they bing out the paddles and yell, Clear! To shock someone's heart back. I learned about them during my CPR class. In the US, you see them everywhere, if you look: libraries, malls, schools, etc.


	2. The Field Trip

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer:The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

Previously...

_She reaches for the iPod, turns it on, closes her eyes, and hopes they all just go away. She does not want to become some little kid in a Bruce Willis movie. _Ooooo, I see dead people. That's **never** going to happen!

**Chapter 2: The Field Trip**

"Gee Sharpay, I know you don't like school as much as some people, but you didn't have to nearly drown yourself to get out of it", Ryan quips as he pushes Sharpay's wheelchair through the busy hospital.

She can't hear him, of course, because she's got the iPod turned up full blast and her eyes are screwed shut to keep _them_ out.

The wheelchair stops and someone reaches down and pulls out an earbud and Sharpay snaps her eyes open. To her relief it's her dad.

"Come on, Pumpkin. Let's get you home."

Once in the car, everyone's silent. _Man, the dead people were almost better than this._

"Sooo...", Ryan starts, hoping someone will pick up the conversation that he's not actually equipped to carry.

Their father is driving with their mother beside him and Ryan and Sharpay are taking up the backseat of the Lincoln Towncar. Sharpay hates this car; it's your classic old person car and her parents are way too young to be driving one; but it's the company car, so they're stuck with it.

"We'll discuss it when we get home, Ryan", Vance Evans says sternly.

"No, we'll discuss it now", insists their mother.

"Joyce...", warns Vance.

"No, Vance. This needs to be discussed now. Sharpay's problem deserves to be our top priority."

_Crap, how did they know?_, thinks Sharpay.

"I guess you're right, dear", concedes her husband.

"Sharpay...", Sharpay cringes at her mother's tone.

_They're going to have me committed; I just know it._

"This is your senior year of high school", Joyce continues, "and you need to start taking things more seriously. Now, we've turned a blind eye to your drinking because we thought it would be best if you just worked it out of your system before heading off to college. ... But my goodness, Sharpay, you nearly drowned!"

Relieved, Sharpay says, "Oh, is that all?" Sharpay was convinced they were going to tell her she was crazy for talking to dead people.

"Is that all!?", shouts Vance as he takes his eyes off the road and has to swerve the large car to keep from wrecking.

"Honey! Eyes on the road!"

"Sorry...", he mutters as he stops the car at a red light. "But really Sharpay..."

"I'm sorry, Daddy. Believe me, partying and drinking are the further things from my mind right now." Sharpay says sorrowfully as she stares out the window. There, standing next to the car, is a blooded and bleeding man carrying a mangled, tangled mess of metal which was once a bicycle. He meets her eyes with a dejected look as their car pulls forward again. "Oh yeah, that's the last thing on my mind."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Somebody please tell me why we're here, again?", Jason asks as he looks around their homeroom class.

Sharpay just rolls her eyes, but doesn't respond to him. It's her first week at school, but everyone else's second. Doesn't look like she missed anything --- at least, nothing important. It's just ironic, is all, that she's in the same homeroom with the same people as last year.

Taylor tries to answer him. "We're waiting for Mrs. Saar, Jason. You remember, our school counselor?" She's speaking to him like he's a small child which most people would find insulting, but Jason just doesn't get it.

"Yeah, Jason", Gabriella joins in, "You remember, there's this new school initiative for violence prevention and stopping school shootings before they start."

"Ohhhh", Jason exclaims as if he hasn't heard this entire discussion at least three times before. "Like Virginia Tech..."

There's silence in the room after Jason reminds them about the attack on Virginia Polytechnic Institute on April 1, 2007. A student killed 32 people and wounded many more before committing suicide, making it the deadliest school shooting in U.S. History.

"Man, can you imagine going back in the building after something like that happened? I mean just going back into class in a room where someone died...", Jason shivers dramatically.

"Yeah man", Chad chimes in, "You never know ... maybe someone died right here in East High and we just don't know about it... Oooooo."

"Oh, shut up, Chad", Taylor chastises her boyfriend.

"Hey, you never know..."

"You don't need to worry", Sharpay says flatly. "No one ever died in this building."

"Oh yeah... How do you know, ice princess?", snaps Chad.

"I just do. No one ever died _inside _East High..."

Before Chad can retort, Mrs. Saar enters and starts to talk to them about remaining vigilant and _breaking the code of silence_ that exists in all of our schools.

Sharpay isn't even listening; she's looking intently out the window at the guy warming up down on the track. At first he looks just like any other high school boy until you look at him more closely. He's wearing a stretchy red sweatband on his forehead which is holding his five inch afro up and away from his face. It's not a retro afro like Chad wears; this is the genuine article. Plus he's wearing white knee socks (a definite fashion no-no, even with the jocks) on top of his vintage bright blue Nike trainers. She never said no one had died outside the building.

"... and so in the words of MadEye Moody, Constant Vigilance!", Mrs. Saar concludes with a wide smile.

A few students chuckle at her humor. Sharpay just rolls her eyes. She has never understood why teachers constantly find it necessary to try to sound current.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"I am so excited about this field trip", chirps Gabriella. She turns towards Troy as she comes out of the lunch line and indicates with her head towards Sharpay. "Hey, let's join Sharpay, okay? I'm still a little worried about her. This will give me a chance to evaluate her."

"She seems fine to me. If there was something wrong, don't you think they would have found it at the hospital?"

"I suppose...", she says as if she really doesn't agree with him, but is just humoring him. "But it couldn't hurt", and she takes off for Sharpay's table. Troy follows.

Sharpay has opted to eat on the lower level at a, blessedly, empty table. She cringes when she sees Gabriella and Troy approach. Although, the cringe is completely for Gabriella, not Troy. Despite herself, she still gets a warm feeling all over for him whenever she sees him.

"Sharpay! How are you?", Gabriella says loudly and slowly as she places her tray on Sharpay's table. "Mind if we join you?" Although, she's already sitting down as she asks.

"Sure."

"So... Aren't you excited about this field trip? You probably didn't know this, but my family is originally from Texas. How about you?" Gabriella is being particularly irritating today.

"What about me?" Sharpay is trying to follow the conversation: field trip? Texas?

Gabriella glances sideways at Troy. Her eyes seem to silently say, _brain damage, hearing loss, even_.

"Where is your family from, Sharpay? You know, your genealogy."

"Oh ... I don't know ... somewhere in Europe, I suppose", Sharpay's trying to concentrate on her salad.

"Really? That's so interesting", Gabriella says in that _I'm evaluating you _sort of way. Then, turning to Troy, she asks, "How about you, Troy? Where's your family from?"

"Me?", he squeaks, "Umm ... I don't really want to talk about it." _Everyone is going to find out soon enough anyway_, he thinks miserably.

"Oh", Gabriella says with genuine surprise as she looks oddly at her boyfriend. "Well anyway, I'm very excited about this trip. It's going to be so exciting and educational."

"Whoa, stop right there", Sharpay demands as she puts down her fork. "What field trip? And how can any field trip be both exciting _and_ educational. They don't fit together; it's like stripes and plaids, you know."

Gabriella didn't, but she explains the field trip anyway.

"Well, the Alamo was the site of a famous battle in 1836 between Texan rebels blockaded inside the mission and the Mexican army led by General Santa Ana. It's also been passed down through history as the famous battle cry, _Remember the Al_..."

"Stop!", shouts Sharpay, "Did you, like, hit the Disk Change button or something? What, in the hell, are you talking about? What does this field trip have to do with you reciting a boring history of The Alamo?"

"Oh ... well that's what I was explaining..."

"Gabriella, please, let me", says Troy gently as he smiles a little at Sharpay. "Sharpay, the senior class is taking a field trip to San Antonio, Texas in two weeks to see the Alamo. That's it, plain and simple."

"Why on earth would I want to schlep over half way across the state of Texas to see a dusty old building where a bunch of guys diii... Oh no, I'm not going! I refuse! Who's in charge of this thing?"

"Surprisingly, it's Ms. Darbus, Mr. Fletcher, and my dad."

Sharpay jumps to her feet and flies out of the cafeteria leaving behind a stunned Gabriella and Troy.

"Wow, that was weird", says Gabriella. "I told you there was something wrong with her."

"You know, Gabi, to tell the truth, I'm not so thrilled about going either."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"...But that's not fair!", Sharpay screams into the faces of two of her teachers, plus Coach Bolton. "You can't base my whole quarter's history grade on some stupid field trip!"

"Miss Evans! Please control yourself", Ms. Darbus says through gritted teeth.

Sharpay found Ms. Darbus, Coach Bolton and Mr. Fletcher, her history teacher, in the teacher's lounge where they were all eating lunch.

"Y-y-yes, Sharpay, please... c-calm ... d-d-down", Mr. Fletcher stutters nervously.

_Mr. Fletcher is the biggest wimp, _thinks Sharpay, _give that man a turban and call him Professor Quirrell._ However, she realizes that he's her best bet at getting out of this.

"Mr. Fletcher...", Sharpay purrs to the nervous little man.

"Y-y-yes?"

"You can't possibly expect the entire senior class to go to Texas with only two weeks preparation."

"Weeell, we did send a l-l-letter out ov-over the summer, Sharpay. You must have gotten it."

"That's correct, Sharpay", Ms. Darbus chimes in, "In the case of two students in one household, we only sent one letter, addressed to the eldest sibling."

"Ryan!", Sharpay screams as she storms out into the corridor in search of her _older_ brother, by three minutes.

"You know", says Coach Bolton, "I actually feel sorry for that boy when she finds him."

"Bbetter him, than mmme."

"Now, back to our planning", Ms. Darbus says, "San Antonio has a wonderful little dinner theater that I thought..."

"Oh no, you don't!", interrupts Coach Bolton, "This is the home of the San Antonio Spurs and there is no way we're going to miss visiting the Alamodome."

"B-b-but, tthis is s-supposed to be about history", comes a voice too low for the two combatants to hear as they continue to shout their own ideas at each other.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"You knew ... you knew and you didn't tell me!", Sharpay is now shouting at her entire family as they are sitting around the dining room table.

"Well dear", her mother starts, "With all the drama that's been happening lately, it's little wonder that it slipped our minds."

"Yeah Sharpay, it's just like I told you", Ryan says as he hides in fear, behind his mother. "But don't worry, I turned in all our paperwork, so we're all set to go."

"I'm not going and you can't make me."

TBC

Review Spotlight of the Chapter if from Clotisy:

"_That hunky spanish lifeguard thing made me laugh.  
A few weeks ago me and another girl were joking that he was hinting at something when he said "thanks to the kind words last summer, i've been promoted" and " no worries. I'll make sure that the new lifeguard is fully briefed on just the way you like things.". I dont see Sharpay bothering to talk nice about a lifeguard without him doing something to make her very happy.Especially since all he did was probably sit on his chair all day...unless Sharpay came close to drowning."_

Absolutely, Clotisy. There is no way Sharpay would go out of her way to help anyone other than, well, Sharpay, herself. So I'm thinking there was definitely some private swim lessons going on there.

Okay, so now we know how Sharpay almost drowned. Actually, I added this because my guy, who always likes to play Devil's Advocate, asked me how in the world she could drown in that tiny little pool at Lava Springs with all those people around. So now we know, it was the last night before the school started back and Sharpay obviously had too much drinky, fell in the pool and was rescued by Gabriella and Troy.

Also, we're getting to the real plot of this thing too. I got this idea after seeing National Treasure 2 at Christmas. Great movie, but my story won't be nearly that great.

So, we understand why Sharpay doesn't want to go to The Alamo, but what's Troy's problem???

BTW, did everybody get the CCD reference in the first chapter. Remember, Sharpay thought her CCD teacher had caught her reading Cosmo. That's the education class that all Catholic kids have to take.

This marathon of Harry Potter movies was on last weekend, so don't be surprised to see lots of Harry Potter references popping up here and there in my stories.

Oh, go check out "Saving Me by Saving You" posted under Hardy's Girl 11. It's my first colab.

Thanks.


	3. The Flight

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer:The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

Previously...

"_I'm not going and you can't make me."_

**Chapter 3: The Flight**

"12 ... 13 ... 14", Ryan reads off the seat numbers as he passes. "This is it, Sharpay." He checks his ticket. "Here, I'm in 14A and you're in 14D."

Then, he turns around to see a pale Sharpay holding on for dear life to his hand.

"There must be some mistake", Sharpay grinds out. "We're supposed to be sitting next to each other."

"Well, at least we're in the same row", he says weakly.

"Let's switch with that man, Ryan", Sharpay suggests, indicating the obese man sitting in the aisle seat.

The large man looks over at them and shakes his flabby head from side to side.

"No, I've purchased both seats: the aisle and the middle and I will not move", he says stubbornly.

Poor Ryan has to crawl over the large man to get to his window seat.

"Excuse us!", comes an impatient voice from behind her.

"Yeah, we need to get to our seat some time _today_."

Sharpay scowls back at Jason and Zeke and they both visibly shrink back in obvious fear.

"Um, sorry Sharpay", Zeke says quickly, "Just take your time."

Sharpay sinks down into her seat and tries to relax a little.

"I can't believe they actually made me come on this trip", Sharpay moans across the fat man to Ryan. "And then, on top of that, they force us to sit in coach."

"I don't understand why you don't want to come. It's going to be like a vacation. We go to the Alamo, do the history thing and then, go down to the Riverwalk for the rest of the day. It'll be great, Shar. You'll see."

"That's the problem, Ryan. I'll_ see_ too much", she says cryptically.

The fat man scowls at both of them and tells them to be quiet.

"Excuse us ... excuse us ... excuse us", Troy Bolton mumbles over and over again as he leads Gabriella down the narrow aisle until he stops in front of Sharpay.

"Excuse me, Sharpay; but we're in seats E and F. Would you mind getting up and letting us in?"

_You've got to be kidding me. This is going to be the worse day of my life and that's saying a lot consider that in the past month I've both died and learned that I can see and talk to dead people._

Sharpay stands up dramatically and says in a threatening tone to Gabriella, "Fine, but you're not sitting next to me. Sit at the window."

"Oookay, I actually prefer the window. Thank you."

Gabriella and Troy eventually take their seats after much shuffling and searching through their bags before storing them in the overhead bins.

"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm Daniel McNamara, your lead flight attendant, and welcome aboard Delta Flight 213, flying non-stop to San Antonio, Texas..."

The flight attendant does the standard spiel as Sharpay becomes more and more nervous. She's gripping both arm rests so tightly that her knuckles turn white. Then, her eyes snap shut when the airplane gains speed as it accelerates to take-off velocity.

A warm hand closes over hers and she hears Troy's voice whispering in her ear.

"It's okay, Sharpay, just hold my hand."

Without even opening her eyes, she moves her right hand and threads her fingers through Troy's. The plane takes off without incident and Sharpay starts to slowly relax and very cautiously opens her eyes.

"Thanks", she whispers over to Troy, but she makes no move to release his hand and neither does he.

"The flight's only about an hour and half", he tells her in a reassuring voice.

"One hour, 39 minutes", she corrects. "I keep track of these things."

"Is this your first time flying?"

"Oh no, in fact, Daddy has a fleet of Lear jets for his company. We usually use one of those for family vacations."

"But you're scared of flying?"

"Yeah", she admits reluctantly.

"But you still fly?"

"Yeah", again.

"Then, Sharpay Evans, I think you're one of the bravest people I've ever met", Troy says as he looks deeply into her eyes.

She can't seem to look away. His eyes are mesmerizing and it feels so good to hold his hand. It's warm and calming. Then, she remembers how it made her feel the same way when they were standing in the hospital hallway and she had her hand on his arm.

"Excuse me!" Reality slams into her in the form of Gabriella Montez. "Troy? Would you mind taking a look at this map of San Antonio with me? We need to plan our free time."

Then, she looks pointedly at Troy and Sharpay's joined hands and Troy guiltily pulls his hand away from Sharpay.

"Um, sorry", he says to Sharpay and he turns towards Gabriella and her map and her ... spreadsheet. _Wow, she made a spreadsheet. This is going to be a fun vacation_, Troy thinks sarcastically.

Troy is right; it is a short flight, so Sharpay tries to relax as best she can and pulls out her iPod to listen to some music. _This is so much better than that crap that Ryan listens too. _While in the hospital she was forced to listen to Ryan's iPod in order to, literally, tune out her_ gift_. Sharpay idly fingers the business card in the pocket of her pants. Even though she has no intention of ever calling that man, Sharpay still carries Montague Forester's card with her at all times. _Right, like who does he think he is ... some ghostbuster? Who you gonna call?_ The thought of staunch, GQ-issued Montague Forester wearing coveralls and toting a homemade nuclear reactor on his back makes Sharpay giggle, despite herself. In fact, she's so caught up in her little joke that she automatically pulls down her seat tray when she realizes the flight attendant is standing next to her with the heavily-laden, wheeled cart. It would be much later before it occurs to her that an hour and a half long flight wouldn't be serving a complementary meal.

She looks up just as the attendant places the meal on her tray. The scream that Sharpay emits nearly has the oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling.

As much as she wants, she can't look away. Sharpay continues to scream and stare at the bloodied one-armed flight attendant and when she reaches out to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, it's minutes before Sharpay realizes that it's the real flight attendant, Daniel, who's holding her. Only when Troy's gentle, yet strong hand touches her back does Sharpay snap out of it. Because only when Troy's gentle, yet strong hand touches her back does the bloodied flight attendant disappear.

"I'm sorry", she hiccups to the flight attendant. "I ..." _What Sharpay? What do you say? I was screaming bloody murder because there's a corpse walking around trying to serve people a really bad in-flight meal? _ Instead, she opts for a more believable story. "I dosed off and had a really bad nightmare. It won't happen again." She gives the attendant a shaky smile.

Then, she turns to Troy and mumbles her thanks.

"I didn't do anything, Sharpay." Troy tells her gently as he moves his hand from back.

Sharpay looks over to see Gabriella giving her a pitying look and shaking her head sadly. She looks away quickly and sees that Ryan is sound asleep and has missed the entire episode. When her eyes travel back towards her tray which she intends to put back, she glances up to see that dead flight attendant watching her sadly from the front of the cabin. Sharpay can't help the small whimper that escapes her throat and Troy immediately reaches for her shaking hands to hold them.

The spectral flight attendant vanishes.

Sharpay looks with amazement at Troy. Then, she does the unthinkable. She pushes his hand again while looking up the aisle at the last location of the ghost.

She shimmers into sight.

Sharpay quickly clutches back onto Troy's arm.

The apparition is gone.

Sharpay turns astonishingly towards Troy and a huge smile breaks onto her face. He's watching her in confusion, but doesn't say anything.

Their moment is broken by Gabriella who asks in a snappy voice, "Sharpay, what _is_ your problem?"

Sharpay leans forward to look over at Gabriella. "Nothing ... nothing at all. I'm fine."

But she still doesn't let go of Troy and she doesn't intend to ... ever. _Well, that's not really practical, now is it? Oh shut up, _Sharpay tells her voice of reason.

Gabriella casts an outraged look at their conjoined hands, but doesn't say anything. Instead, she silently goes back to her laptop, studying her map and spreadsheet.

"Sooo", Troy says as he starts to relax in his seat. Holding her hand is really kind of nice and it makes him feel ... all protective-like. "What are you listening to?"

"Well, you know ... music. Probably, nothing you'd be interested in."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" He reaches over and pulls the left earbud out of her ear and sticks it in his right ear.

A big smile breaks out on his face and he stares at her in amazement. "Nickelback? You surprise me, Sharpay. I figured you'd only listen to show tunes or something."

"That's Ryan, not me."

Just then, a flush rises in Sharpay's cheeks as she realizes what song is playing. It's Animals and Chad Kroeger has just gotten to the part about 'his gear'.

_You're beside me on the seat  
Got your hand between my knees  
And you control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze  
It's hard to steer when you're breathing in my ear  
But I got both hands on the wheel while you got both hands on my gear  
By now, no doubt that we were heading south  
I guess nobody ever taught her not to speak with a full mouth  
'Cause this was it, like flicking on a switch  
It felt so good I almost drove into the ditch _

Luckily, Troy doesn't seem to notice her discomfort as he drums his hand on his armrest. That doesn't seem to make Sharpay feel any better.

_Oh, this is ridiculous! Why am I embarrassed about listening to this song with Troy? I mean I've probably had more lovers than he has._ Sharpay shoots a glance over at Gabriella. _Oh yeah, a lot more lovers. But what I feel with Troy... That's it! Feelings. I __**feel**__ for Troy. I never really felt anything for Javier, the lifeguard; or Rico, the bartender; or Jose, the poolboy. That was more like scratching an itch. There were no true feelings from either side with all those guys. It was just physical. But this..._

She realizes Troy has stopped drumming his hand and although she's not sure when it happened, her hand is now tightly gripping his upper thigh --- very close to his _gear_ as mentioned in the song.

They both look down at her hand and then, simultaneously, their heads raise to look each other in the eye. And they stay there, mesmerized with each other. Until...

A hand rudely starts shaking Troy's shoulder.

"Troy! We're here; we've landed", Gabriella says with a definite edge to her voice.

Troy and Sharpay instantly look out the window and are amazed to see a black tarmac with the runway beyond it.

Amazed, Sharpay says, "Wow, I can't believe I didn't realize when we landed."

"Yeah, me either", Troy sighs, looking back at her.

"Troy!", Gabriella snaps.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Sharpay makes it through to baggage claim without incident. _Maybe, I should give that Forester guy a call. He could explain why I see what I see and why sometimes I don't see anything. And the whole Troy thing. _

Thinking about him just makes her sigh. She's so caught up in the whole Troy thing that she almost doesn't see her designer pink Diane von Furstenberg five piece luggage set until it was nearly at the end of the carousel.

"Ryan!", she barks at her daydreaming brother. "Bags! Ryan!"

He scoots off to get them before they disappear through the flap. A few minutes later, he comes struggling back, trying to carry all five of her bags and his one garment bag. All of his clothes need to be hung, not folding --- even his underwear.

Finally, Ryan makes it back to Sharpay and drops the bags in a heap just as Gabriella stomps by in a highly vexed state.

"...but Gabriella...", Troy whines as he tries to keep up with her electric pace. "It wasn't my fault. _She_ was holding _my_ knee ... I swear."

She whizzes around so quickly that Troy slams right into her, causing Gabriella to drop her overnight bag.

"Oh yeah? Well, I didn't see you trying to move it!" Then, she grabs her bag and exits the airport through the sliding doors.

"Wow!", Ryan comments as he tries to balance all of their bags again. "I wonder what that was about."

"No idea", Sharpay lies, "but I think this is going to be an interesting field trip after all."

She starts to walk away when Ryan calls her back.

"Sharpay? Please ... can't you help me?"

"Of course, Ryan. How selfish of me."

She removes the bright pink makeup case from the top of his pile, turns and walks away.

TBC

Okay, we're in San Antonio now and soon the reason they're really here will be discovered.

Oh, btw, my uncle used to work for Eastern Airlines (it doesn't exist anymore). Anyway, he told me this really great ghost story about haunted airplanes. It seems that after this fatal crash, some of the parts where salvaged and put on other Eastern planes and then, people on those planes started seeing ghostly apparitions. I looked it up on wikipedia: Eastern Airlines Flight 401. Check it out.

Thanks and please R & R.


	4. Arriving in the Great State of Texas

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

_Previously..._

_"Wow!", Ryan comments as he tries to balance all of their bags again. "I wonder what that was about."_

_"No idea", Sharpay lies, "but I think this is going to be an interesting field trip after all."_

**Chapter 4: Arriving in the Great State of Texas**

"Oh come on", Sharpay whines. "Why do I have to share a room with _her_? I mean, it's cruel. And it's not just for my benefit either; she hates me too."

"That's sooo not true, Sharpay", Gabriella volunteers in a patronizing voice. "Remember, I saved your life." She says this slowly as if she's still wondering about that alleged brain damage. Then, she turns on a dime and sounds like she's conducting a class. "You know, in some cultures, if you save someone's life that person is indebted to you forever."

Without replying, Sharpay turns to Ms. Darbus pleadingly, silently saying to her, "_please, save me!_".

"I'm sorry, Sharpay", the older woman says and she really does seem genuinely sorry for the news she's about to deliver.

The three of them are standing at the check-in desk of the Alamo Arms Hotel.

Scores of other students are crowded around them. They're all anxious to get their rooms and be out of the oppressive San Antonio heat. Sharpay's tantrum is grating on everyone's nerves.

"Well, how about this?", Sharpay suggests as she opens her bright pink Prada purse. She pulls out her platinum American Express card and tries to hand it to the clerk.

"I'll just pay for my own _private_ room and then, everyone will be happy."

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but as I explained to Mizz Darbus, here. We're hostin' the annual orthodontics convention", explains the clerk, a tall bleached blond with big hair and even bigger assets over which is pinned a nametag which reads, Eunice-Florene. "And there simply aren't any more rooms available."

Sharpay just stares at her blankly for a second, trying to understand her heavy Texas accent.

Misinterpreting her silence for something else, she explains in a slower, syrupy-sweet voice, "They're dentists, sweetie; it's a dentist convention."

Realizing she's being patronized, yet again, Sharpay exclaims, "I know what an orthodontics means. I've got over $10,000 of dental work in my mouth to prove it." Sharpay clicks her perfectly straight, bright-white teeth at the clerk, who shrinks back in surprise as if she thinks Sharpay might bite her.

"Aaaah!", Sharpay screams in frustration.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Oooo, this is nice", exclaims Gabriella as she walks into Room 232.

Sharpay isn't impressed. The room is moderately sized with two full-sized beds, a small table and two chairs. The dИcor looks like it came from the local Wal-mart --- a Texas Wal-mart if the over abundance of tacky southwestern knick knacks are taken into consideration.

The porter wheels the luggage cart into the room. It's piled high with Sharpay's matching designer luggage and Gabriella's two smaller pieces.

"Gabriella, take care of the tip", Sharpay orders when the porter is finished, "I don't have any cash."

"Oh", Gabriella says in surprise, "um ... sure. Just let me find some change."

The porter rolls his eyes when she places the two quarters in his proffered hand. "Thank you", she says shyly.

Sharpay ignores the two and walks directly to the air conditioning unit at the window. The room is stiflingly hot and Sharpay can already feel the sweat starting to drip down between her breasts. She twists one dial to full cold and the other to high, then she lets out a sigh of relief as the unit starts up with a groan.

"Oooo, you should see how big the bathroom is", echoes Gabriella's voice from the bathroom.

Sharpay is leaning over the air conditioner with her shirt pulled up over her bra to try and speed her cool down. It's so humid here compared to the dry desert air of Albuquerque. She so caught up in the luxury of machined cooled air that she doesn't hear the knock at the door over the blast of the noisy A/C unit.

Gabriella opens the door to find Troy and Ryan standing there.

"Hey", Ryan says excitedly, "we're just across the hall from you."

Troy isn't saying anything. In fact his attention is drawn across the room to where Sharpay is standing seeming flashing the air conditioner. _Lucky air conditioner_. She's pulled her tight tank up above her hot pink lace bra. Despite himself, Troy can't help but wonder if she's wearing matching panties. _Maybe, I can ask Gabriella later. ... Oh, crap! Gabriella._

He guiltily looks over to see Gabriella glaring at him. Busted! Luckily, all her anger seems to be directed at Sharpay.

"Sharpay!", Gabriella barks and Gabriella never barks. "Pull your shirt down!"

Sharpay only hears her name and she whirls around to find Troy staring at her. Oh, there are other people in the room, but at this very instant in time, she can't tell you who they are.

_Oh, double crap! It's lace all over. _Troy's jeans suddenly feel too small and even though he longs to readjust he knows he's a dead man if he does. Therefore, he settles for a long, hard swallow and a flushed face instead.

Sharpay sees his Adam's apple bob up and down from across the room and she suddenly feels very naked. 

_Shit! I nearly am naked!_

She quickly pulls down her tank top and tries to look casual.

Ryan, for his part, seems oblivious to the whole scene. His eyes are on the fruit basket sitting on the small table.

"Fruit basket! We didn't get a fruit basket", he exclaims, indignantly, as he walks over and grabs an apple.

Unfortunately, Gabriella sees everything, but says nothing. A long silence ensues, broken only by Ryan's enthusiastic chewing.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Look, I don't know what you're problem is and I really don't care, but I need to use the shower so you need to get out!"

Sharpay's voice is challenging and Gabriella can't help but hear her (especially since she has her hear pressed up against the bathroom door). 

_Oh my, she's talking to herself. This is not a good sign._

Inside the bathroom, Sharpay is standing with her towel wrapped around herself and getting angrier and angrier by the minute.

An equally angry-looking older woman is staring back at her from inside the bathtub. Thankfully, she, too, has a towel draped around her. She has bluish-grey hair which is piled on her head in a beehive hairdo with loads of hairspray.

When Sharpay first came in, she thought she'd somehow walked into the wrong bathroom. She was only half awake after listening to Gabriella snore all night. No wonder she sounds so nasal when she sings.

It isn't until the woman starts yelling at Sharpay about her own murder that Sharpay realizes she is talking to a ghost. Her first clue should have been the beehive hair; but since this is Texas, Sharpay quickly discounted that. She has seen plenty of women with that hair style just since she stepped off the plane.

Sharpay is fed up. All she wants is a shower and the old lady doesn't want to budge. Unfortunately, she does want to talk.

"I was murdered in 1982 and I've been stuck in here ever since."

"Wow, just like Moaning Myrtle", says Sharpay and then, tries to explain, "You know, Harry Potter? Of course, you don't. Um, sorry ... go on."

"Look here, you think I like living here, in this bathroom, for forever. Well, I don't, but I can't seem to move on until I can receive justice."

"Justice? What kind of justice?" Sharpay's interest is peaked.

"My death was ruled an accident, by electrocution. The police determined that a hairdryer, one of those new-fangled hand-held ones, accidentally dropped in the tub."

"But that's ridiculous", Sharpay says. "You've got old lady helmet. Why would you use a blowdryer?"

"I _beg_ your pardon", the ghost says indignantly.

"You have your hair _done_ every week, right. Just like my grandma. So you would never use a blowdryer."

"Finally, I've been trying to tell people that for 25 years. Soooo, do you think you can help me?" The old lady sits down on the edge of the bathtub and starts to relax a little. "Will you tell someone the truth?"

"Depends... Will you get out of the tub, so I can take my shower? And will you leave me alone for the rest of my stay here?"

"Of course, just let me tell you my name and the details."

"Fine. I have someone I can call who might be able to help."

When Sharpay finally comes out of the bathroom 30 minutes later, Gabriella is sitting on the chair in the far corner of the room. She's fingering her rosary and watching Sharpay with trepidation.

"Um ... hi. Sorry I took so long", says Sharpay as she tries to sound pleasant.

"Y-you keep away from me", Gabriella stutters. Then, she holds up the cross from the necklace around her neck. "I know what's going on now, see? I figured it out. You're possessed, so just stay away from me, understand?"

Sharpay can't help the smile that spreads across her face. If this is all it takes, she should have started seeing dead people a long time ago.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Troy enters the lobby with his nose in a book and walks right into his dad who is coming out of the dining room with Ms. Darbus. The two adults seem to have reached an uneasy ceasefire; at least, they aren't actively attacking each other anymore. The book hit the ground between father and son and Ms. Darbus is the first to react. She bends down and picks it up. Then, she stops to study it before handing it back to Troy. The book is old, it's age made obvious by the yellowing of the pages. It's bound together by leather lacing and looks homemade.

"Aaah, how interesting: The Journal of Jonathon Bolton. This looks very old", Ms. Darbus comments. She turns back to Coach Bolton. "I'll meet you on the bus, Jack."

"Sure thing, Gladys", Coach Bolton says and then, he turns back to Troy with a disapproving look in his eyes.

Troy, anticipating what's going to come, tries to distract his father, "_Gladys_? I guess you two aren't trying to kill each other anymore, huh?" He laughs nervously.

Ignoring his comment, Jack asks, "What's going on, Troy? Why did you bring that book? Nothing good can come of dredging up this old history."

"Dad, this thing has haunted our family for over 150 years. Maybe, since we're here, I'll be able to prove..."

"Troy...", Jack says in warning, "drop it!" Then, he takes a calming breath and puts his hand on Troy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, son, but I just don't think it's worth it. I'll see you on the bus, okay?"

"Sure, Dad."

As soon as the coach leaves, Troy opens his book back up and walks off to eat breakfast.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Sharpay is purposely giving Gabriella the 'evil eye' over the top of her coffee cup. Most of the East High students have finished the complimentary breakfast and are loitering around in the lobby waiting to pile on the bus and head to the Alamo.

"What are you doing?", asks Ryan once he notices the direction of her stares.

"Having some fun", is Sharpay's cryptic answer.

"'Cause you usually stare at Troy, not Gabriella. Just wondering if you've switched to the other team."

"What!" Sharpay jerks her head away from Gabriella and gives her full attention and ire to her brother. "I Have Not Switched Teams. I am definitely on team! The right team! And ... and what do you mean by that other thing", her voice drops to a low, dangerous growl. "I Do Not stare at Troy Bolton."

"Of course, you do", Ryan says casually, but he's starting to get a little nervous at the intensity of her gaze. "You've stared at him for years, Shar."

"Oooh! Just shut it, Ryan!" With that, she jumps up and storms out of the dining room.

Ryan picks up the morning paper and goes back to reading the comics. Only the slight tremor of the shaking newspaper gives away his cool demeanor.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Wow, what do you make of that?", Chad says as Sharpay flies by them.

Troy has his nose buried deep in the old book.

"What?", Troys looks up, confusedly at his best friend.

"The ice princess. She just flew out of here like a mountain lion on the prowl. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of _that._"

"Oh... I-I don't know. I wasn't looking." He tries to go back to his book.

"I think you've been hanging around Gabriella too much, man. What's with all the book reading? And you, the playmaker, not noticing a hot chick walking by. I mean, I don't particularly like her, but that doesn't mean I don't like to look."

"Wha..?", Troy asks vaguely as he barely looks up from the book.

"Forget it, man. I'll catch you on the bus." Chad gets up and starts to leave the room, but takes a detour over to Gabriella and Taylor's table.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Is she still looking at me?", Gabriella whispers to Taylor as she holds a tourist map of San Antonio suspiciously in front of her face.

Gabriella is holding the map out, completely unfolded, such that, Taylor has to lean conspicuously over to her left in order to see Sharpay. She leans back in towards Gabriella before saying anyway.

"It looks like she's yelling at Ryan about something right now", Taylor says in an exaggerated stage whisper.

"I don't think you're taking this seriously enough", Gabriella says in a peeved tone. "Don't you believe anything I told you? She's obviously possessed."

"Well... it's just that Sharpay could just be doing this in order to bother you. As someone with a fairly scientific mind, I'm not sure I believe in possession, Gabriella."

"What about the evidence? Her odd behavior in the hospital, the screaming on the plane, and now the thing in the bathroom this morning."

"I, sometimes, talk to myself. I, even, sing to myself, though I'm not very good", confesses Taylor. She takes a bite of her bagel and waits for her friend to respond.

"It was more than talking to herself, Taylor. She was carrying on a full conversation, except there was no one else there --- at least, no one I could see or hear."

"I think she's just jerking your chain."

Chad walks up at that moment and, taking advantage of the Gabriella's map situation, gives Taylor a quick peck on the cheek before sitting down.

"Who's jerking whose chain?", he asks.

"Sharpay's jerking Gabriella's", Taylor explains.

"Oh yeah?", Chad asks with a rise in his voice. "And what are they wearing during this chain jerking event? And is there any mud involved?"

"Dog!", Taylor snaps.

"Woof! Woof!" is Chad's response.

"Seriously, Gabriella thinks Sharpay is possessed and I think she's just messing around with her head."

Gabriella snaps down the map and starts to viciously fold it up, ripping it in several places in the process.

"You're _supposed _to be my best friend; you're _supposed_ to be supportive", Gabriella exclaims and then, she grabs her backpack and leaves the room.

"Wow, what got her panties in a bunch?", Chad asks as he reaches over and takes the remaining half of Taylor's bagel.

"I think there's more going on than Sharpay's strange behavior."

"Like?", he prompts.

"Like maybe things aren't so happy anymore in the land of Troyella. Did you notice how close Troy and Sharpay were yesterday on the plane?"

"You know I always thought that was a goofy place to live anyway --- the land of Troyella --- way too much singing and dancing and not enough basketball." Chad pops the last of the bagel in his mouth and mumbles that they should get moving towards the bus.

They're almost out the door when Chad looks back and calls out to Troy. "Hey man! Time to get movin'."

Troy looks up in surprise to find the dining room empty. With a worried look on his face, he puts the book into his backpack and runs to catch up with Chad and Taylor.

TBC Finally... I'm getting a little closer to the plot. Mmmm, what could be in this mysterious journal? You'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, please R & R.

Thanks.

Here's my spotlight review from the last chapter. This is from T h e-S h o w-M u s t-G o-O n7.  
-  
"Then, she looks pointedly at Troy and Sharpay's joined hands and Troy guiltily pulls his hand away from Sharpay"  
WA WON'T SOMEBODY HIT GABRIELLA!  
Erm...sorry :D But Gabby was acting W-A-Y spazzy about Troy and Sharpay. God. :) Anyways, what up with Troy, Shar and ghosty lady? Why do ghosts go POOF when Sharpay touches Troy? Why?  
Better update soon and tell me! Just one suggestion for the story:kill Gabriella :D It's not like Sharpay will MISS her cos she'll still SEE her!"

That cracked me up. Boy, my readers are a vicious lot. In response I have to say, if I killed off G. then she'd just haunt Sharpay for the rest of her life. And that would be a fate worst than death. LOL


	5. Meeting Johnny

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

_Previously..._

_Ignoring his comment, Jack asks, "What's going on, Troy? Why did you bring that book? Nothing good can come of dredging up this old history."_

"_Dad, this thing has haunted our family for over 150 years. Maybe, since we're here, I'll be able to prove..."_

**Chapter 5: Meeting Johnny**

The charter bus stops with a loud squeaking of brakes and almost everyone looks out the windows on the right side.

Ryan, who is staring out the left side of the bus, comments to Sharpay, "Looks like a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum to me."

Sharpay turns away from the Alamo to stare incredulously at her brother. Then, she glances out the window to where he's staring. "You idiot!", she whispers, "That _is_ a Ripley's Believe or Not. The Alamo's on the _other _side!" She turns his head to the right so he can see the mission.

"Ohhhh", Ryan exclaims and nods enthusiastically.

"That's it?", Chad asks in disappointment. "That's what all the fuss is about? It's so small and I always thought the Alamo would be out in the middle of open country, not right in the middle of downtown."

The small Spanish-style mission sits about 200 yards from the street. Its worn limestone walls look dirty and bleak in the harsh sunlight. The door is flanked on each side by two decorative columns and the arched doorway is open, meaning that the historic site is open to tourists. 

"Chad...", Taylor starts to chastise him, but Troy, surprisingly, interrupts her with is own explanation.

"Chad, you have to imagine what it looked like 171 years ago. There was nothing else here for miles and miles. The small town of San Antonio was separated from the mission by the river and most of the houses were near the town. They were hundreds of miles away from anything near to a city. And there they were... this rag-tag band of men --- rebels, they were called, but in their mind they were just defending their way of life --- their dream."

Other conversations on the bus have halted. Everyone has their eyes glued on Troy, even Ryan is paying attention.

Troy continues, "And they fought for that way of life. They fought against absurd odds --- against a trained army of 2,000 men. ... Think about that, Chad ... There were less than 200 Texans, fighting against overwhelming numbers. They must have known going into this thing that there was no way they'd come out alive, much less win.

"So when you look at that tiny stone mission and say 'that's it'... Well, yeah ... that's it ... That's really it. That's what this world is all about."

Troy looks around self-consciously when he realizes how quiet it is on the bus and sees that every eye is on him. He feels a rush of embarrassment course through him. 

"I-I'm sorry", he mumbles and then turns and rushes to the front of the bus and out onto the sidewalk.

"Wow, I never knew Troy was so into history", Chad says.

Gabriella sighs contentedly. "I'm so proud of him", she tells Taylor. "I don't think he was a very good student before we met."

Taylor nods in agreement.

Sharpay stares after him with concern, but doesn't comment.

Ms. Darbus stands up to announce that they should start to file off the bus in an orderly fashion. Coach Bolton is already off and has pulled Troy over to have a private conversation with him.

As soon as Sharpay steps off, she pops open her cell phone and dials Montague Forester's number again. She's been trying to reach him since Gabriella stepped into the shower this morning and she was finally alone. Unfortunately, she's only reached his voicemail and it isn't something she can say in a message. Luckily, since she is focusing on this much needed phone call, she's not even thinking about all the dead she'll undoubtedly see soon.

"_Hello? Montague Forester speaking."_

"Mr. Forester? Hi, this is Sharpay Evans from Albuquerque."

"_Of course ... Miss Evans. I've been expecting your call. When shall we expect you?"_

"_Expect me? _ I'm not coming to you." Then, she looks around to make sure no one's listening and continues, "Look, I just need your help is all. It's about an old murder case. Actually, it was classified as an accident, but the victim, Mrs. Crisholm, insists that she was murdered and I was just wondering if you could help. You know, like, maybe you have the resources for something like that."

"_Oh, this is wonderful!", Mr. Forester exclaims so loudly that Sharpay has to hold the phone away from her ear. "So you've actually made another Class Three contact and you're attempting to aid the subject?"_

"What? No. What I'm attempting to do is take a shower."

"_I beg your pardon?"_ Sharpay can almost hear him blush through the telephone.

"No, no, no. Not now. Look just listen, okay?", Sharpay walks off away from the group as she continues to explain her encounter with the 'ghost in the tub'.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Chad walks up behind Troy and puts his arm around Troy's shoulder.

"Hey, I-I'm sorry, man", Chad says sincerely. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Don't sweat it. It wasn't you. It's just...it's complicated", Troy explains as they walk closer and closer towards the front door of the mission.

At that moment Taylor and Gabriella join the boys and suggest that they enter the mission. 

"S-sure", Troy says as he clutches the leather bound book in his chest. Then, he squares his shoulders the follows his friends inside.

"Wow...", Chad whistles as he enters the building. "So you're telling me that only 200 men or so held off an entire army in this place?"

Gabriella walks off to the left and leaves the three standing alone to examine the mission.

"Yeah", Troy says absentmindedly as his eyes scan the building. 

There are several glass cases which house some of the guns, knives and clothing worn by many of the men who fought and died during the battle. 

"That's actually pretty impressive."

"You know", Gabriella says as she joins them and hands everyone a pamphlet which she went to collect, "one of my ancestors was a survivor of the Alamo."

"I thought everyone died", Chad says.

"Oh no, that's wrong, Chad. But it's a common mistake", she explains. "Only the men were killed, there were actually quite a few women and children and one male slave who lived. And one of them was my many times removed, great grandmother."

"Really? That's amazing", Taylor comments with interest. 

"Yeah", agrees Chad. "It would be cool to be related to a survivor of the Alamo."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be", Troy mumbles too lowly for anyone else to hear.

"What did you say, Troy?"

"Nothing important, Gabi."

"Oh well, let's go see if we can find out anything about Gabriella's grandma", Chad says as he drags Taylor off to look at some of the display cases.

"Troy?...", Gabriella asks tentatively as she approaches him. "Are you okay? You seem so different lately." _ I bet it's that witch Sharpay's fault. That succubus, the way she was flaunting herself in front of him yesterday._

"What? Uh, no. I-I mean I'm fine. Never better. I just need some air, that's all."

And before she can stop him, Troy turns and walks out the back of the mission, leaving Gabriella standing there alone. She turns around in confusion and sees Sharpay walk in the front door. With a determined look on her face, she marches straight up to the little blond, throwing her Alamo pamphlet at Sharpay in anger.

"Alright you!", she says as she starts poking Sharpay in the chest with her index finger. "You may be powerful and all, but I've got righteousness on my side."

Sharpay is stunned. Not because of Gabriella's outburst or her blatant attack but because she still blinded from having walked out of the bright sunlight and into the dimness of the interior of the building. She backs away reflexively from the strangely acting girl and soon finds herself with her back against the cold plaster wall. 

"...so you just stay away from him, understand?"

Sharpay realizes she must have missed some of the conversation, but assumes that Gabriella is talking about Troy. After her impassioned speech, Gabriella spins around and storms out of the mission.

"Weirdo", Sharpay says after she's gone. She starts to slowly walk around the room, but quickly loses interest with what she considers to be boring history.

Spying a bench in an isolated corner, Sharpay sits down and slips off her sandals. Using the brochure that Gabriella flung at her, Sharpay fans herself frantically to try to cool off. She still can't get used to the heat in this town. 

"Yee-haw!" Suddenly, she hears loud, boisterous laughter coming from the middle of the room and looks up to see Jason and Zeke decked out in cowboy boots and cowboy hats and dancing around like ... like they're in a Texas version of a Disney musical or something.

_And to think we go to the same school. _

Sharpay looks down and sees the obnoxious name tag that Ms. Darbus insisted that everyone wear. 

_Like we're in elementary school._

She doesn't want anyone to know she's from the same school as those idiots, so she quickly pulls the thing off. When she looks back up, Sharpay is relieved to see that the East High cowboys are being escorted out by a large, burly security guard.

"My, oh my. Now, don't that beat all", comes a southern accent from Sharpay's left.

She looks over to see Troy Bolton sitting next to her, watching the show. He, too, is dressed like a Texan, ... sort of.

"Bolton...", Sharpay sighs as she looks him up and down. "Not you too... What's with you guys?"

Troy is wearing some sort of hand sewn leather boots and has his pant legs tucked into them. He's also wearing a long sleeve cotton shirt with blousing sleeves and buttoned cuffs and on his head sits a weather-beaten old hat. And to top it all off, he's covered in dust.

He looks over at her in surprise and quickly rips his hat off his head before speaking, dust billowing about in the air. "Beg pardon, miss? Have we been introduced, cuz I thought I knew everybody here."

"Oh, very funny. What are you some sort of historical interpreter now?" She turns fully to study him. "And I think your Texas accent is off. Speaking as a professional, you sound a little too twangy, you know?"

"I what? I'm not from Texas, ma'am. I was born and bred in the hill country of Tennessee", he says in confusion. Then he gets a nervous look on his face and he stands up. "M-maybe I oughtn't be talking to you."

"Oh yeah, I forgot", Sharpay bites out sarcastically. "Montez already warned me off. You must be really afraid of her, uh?"

Troy has already started walking away when he stops suddenly and turns back to her. "Montez? Gabriella Montez? Stay away from her, miss. She's dangerous", he says in a low voice.

"I've been telling people that since the day I met her."

"Please, you havta take me seriously. No one believes me, but she ain't who she seems."

"Preaching to the choir here, remember?", Sharpay says, a little too loudly as she stands up.

Several of the other tourists and a few fellow East Highers stop and stare at her oddly.

Troy walks to her and with his hat gripped tightly in his hand, speaks to her earnestly. "She's a Jezebel and worst yet, a spy and a traitor to Texas."

"You're delusional, Troy Bolton. I don't like her, but even I don't think she's a traitor to ... Texas? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Yes ma'am, she's a traitor. Wait... who's Troy? I'm Johnny ... JonathonBolton, but ever'body calls me Johnny." He smiles that trademark Bolton grin at her and his green eyes twinkle brightly.

"_Johnny?_ What are you ta..." Wait, _green_ eyes? The entire female universe knows that Troy Bolton has the most gorgeous pair of blue eyes ever ... Then, Sharpay looks up and notices that almost everyone in the building is watching her. And then, it all clicks --- the clothes, the dust, the accent, the dislike of Montez (well, that was just wishful thinking), the green eyes. 

She whips back around at Troy ... no ... Johnny Bolton and looks at him in fear. 

"Y-y-you!", she points an accusing finger. "You're not real. You're dead!"

"Yessum, 'course I am. You are too, right? I-I mean how else could you be talkin' to_me_?"

Sharpay starts to back away from him. "You just stay away from me, okay? I don't want to talk you. I don't want to see you, so just stay away!"

She takes off and bolts for the nearest exit and barrels straight into a strong, warm body just as she gets outside. In spite of her fear and turmoil over her latest _Class Three_ encounter, she feels immediately soothed and calmer.

"Sharpay? What's wrong? What happened?", asks a concerned voice. 

Sharpay looks up to see Troy Bolton, _her_ Troy Bolton. _Did I just think that?_

"Troy? Is it really you?", she asks breathlessly.

"Yeah", he says and then guides her away from the open door and towards some shade trees near by. "Come on, let's get you out of this sun."

"I need to get away from here. Can we go somewhere else?" Then, she pulls back from him and looks him in his eyes, his blue eyes, and says, "I think I need to tell you something." 

"Sure."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Gabriella looks over at Taylor after Sharpay runs out.

"See... I told you so. She's possessed", she deadpans.

"Well, I have to admit that was odd behavior", Taylor confides.

"I found it!", shouts Chad from the panel he's been studying. Surprisingly enough, he's about the only one who wasn't watching Sharpay's one-woman show.

"Here she is, Gabriella Montez. She's famous! And ah...", Chad seems to hesitate now. "I, um, also found a Bolton, Johnny Bolton. He's sort of in-famous."

The two girls join him and start to read.

"Wow, your ancestors were involved. That's sort of romantic", Taylor coos.

"Not so fast, Tay", Chad advises. "Just keep reading. I think I found out why Troy's been acting so weird."

TBC

Now the historical stuff starts. Remember I said I got this idea from seeing National Treasure 2. Anyway, I will be relying on huge amounts of artistic license in the upcoming chapters. I'll try to let you know what's made up and what's real.

Speaking of which, there really is a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum near the Alamo.

Thanks and please R&R.


	6. The Bolton Family Secret

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

_Previously..._

"_Here she is, Gabriella Montez. She's famous! And ah...", Chad seems to hesitate now. "I, um, also found a Bolton, Johnny Bolton. He's sort of in-famous."_

**Chapter 6: The Bolton Family Secret**

Fifteen minutes and two city blocks later, Troy and Sharpay find themselves in Starbucks. It's soothing jazz music and familiar color scheme are just what Sharpay needs to feel at home.

Sharpay finds them a seat at a small table with two chairs and Troy brings over their drinks.

"Here you go, a skinny vanilla latte for the lady and ... a chocolate milkshake for me."

Sharpay laughs. "Starbucks doesn't sell milkshakes."

"Of course they do. They also sell oversized pieces of cake; but by calling them muffins, they make you think you're eating something healthy. This", Troy says, pointing to his Venti Starbucks cup, "is a Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino Blended Crème, ... which is mocha syrup, chocolate chips, and milk, tossed into a blender and topped with whipped cream. It's also 670 calories. If that's not a milkshake, I don't know what is."

"Wow, 670 calories? It must be great to be a guy and not have to worry about that sort of stuff."

"Oh, I have to worry about it too. But I'm in training now for basketball season and I actually need the calories so I don't get too skinny." He says without an ounce of sarcasm.

"That's disgusting, Bolton", Sharpay replies as she wrinkles her nose.

They become silent and after a deep breath and a sip of her drink, Sharpay realizes it's time to talk.

"Troy, something's happened to me ... and ... I need to confide in someone."

"That sounds serious", Troy licks his lips and appears to study her closely before continuing. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"Pregnant?!" Several heads turn to look at them. "No. I'm ... not ... pregnant", she hisses out in a lowered voice. "Look, I never thought I'd say this, at least not out loud, but for some reason I trust you. It's just ... well, _I see dead people_."

"That's a good one and you're a lot cuter than Haley Joel Osment", he chuckles slightly and briefly considers looking around the room for the hidden camera.

Sharpay continues to stare at him in complete seriousness.

"I'm not joking ... and ... well, this last ... ghost, spirit, apparition, ... whatever, ... well, I think you might be interested in him. He told me his name was Johnny Bolton and he looked just like you, Troy, except for his eyes."

Troy is just about ready to bolt, thinking that she must have found what about his ancestor from the information in the Alamo, but when he heard about the eyes...

"What about his_ eyes_?", Troy asks as he draws his head closer to hers.

"They were green."

That's knowledge she can't gain from any informational wall in the Texas mission or anywhere else for that matter, except a certain journal -- the journal that's currently safely resting in Troy's backpack.

"Okay, I'm willing to listen, but not here", he looks around the room nervously. These Texans have a long memory. "Let's go back to the hotel."

They stand to leave and Sharpay thinks nothing of it when Troy reaches for her hand.

In the back of the coffee bar, sits two nosy teenagers, teenagers who having nothing better to do when they got kicked out of the Alamo, decided to go to Starbucks.

When they get to the hallway outside their rooms, Sharpay suggests they go to Troy's room. She secretly wants to stay away from her room and the bathroom ghost as long as possible.

"Um, sure. But remember, we're guys and even if the housekeeper made the beds, it's probably still trashed."

After moving the huge pile of clothes off the chair so she can sit down, Sharpay tells him in detail starting with her near death experience and ending with her conversation with Johnny Bolton.

"Wow." Troy's sitting with his elbows on his knees and his face resting on the palms of his open hands.

"So...do you think I'm crazy ... or, maybe, possessed?"

"_Possessed_? Why would you ask that?"

"Long story."

"And I don't think you're crazy either. I think I actually believe you."

"Now, who's crazy?", she asks wryly.

Troy grabs two bottles of water out of the mini-refrigerator. Offering one to Sharpay and twisting off the top on the other, he settles back down in the chair.

"You know stuff that isn't in the history books, Sharpay. So unless you somehow snuck into my house and took a look at our family history stuff, you have to be telling the truth."

"So you are related to this guy?"

"Yeah, he's my great-great-great-great-great grandfather."

"That's a lot of greats."

"Tell me about it", he sighs and then, takes a long drink from his water bottle. "Anyway, he told you he was from Tennessee." She nods in agreement. "Well, if you look at all the misinformation written about him, it says he's from Kentucky. And that's wrong, he really _was from Tennessee_. He came down to Texas with Davy Crockett in 1835. Crockett was like a second father to him, from what I've read. And his eyes _were_ green. That's documented in his wife's papers.

"Now the thing that confuses and interests me the most is this stuff about Gabriella Montez. I've never read anything bad about her. She was one of the women, along with my many greats grandmother, Johnny's wife, who survived. That's documented. But why was Johnny warning you about her? Who was she to him? Did he say?"

"Nothing other than what I already told you -- that she's a Jezebel." And then with a quizzical look on her face asks, "What's a Jezebel, anyway?"

"Well, I think it's from the bible. She was some sort of old testament queen or something who worshiped idols."

"Idols? What's that got to do with the Alamo?"

"I don't know. Look I don't think we need to concentrate on the Jezebel part. I think we need to concentrate on the trust part and why he was warning you away from her. The next time you see him you need to..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!", Sharpay exclaims as she raises her hands in the air to ward him off. "There isn't going to be any next time. I don't ever plan on going there again. Understand?"

"Please, Sharpay. This is really important to me ... to my family. Look, it may not seem like such a big deal to us today, in Albuquerque, but Mary Bolton, Johnny's wife, and their son, survived the Alamo and were practically run out of the state on a rail because of what they thought Johnny did. And it's gone down in the history books that my ancestor was responsible for the slaughter."

"What did he do?", and then at the pained expression on Troy's face, she quickly amends, "I mean, what do they think he did?"

"Johnny Bolton was a scout." Sharpay smirks at him. "And no, not a boy scout ... a scout is a man who would run messages and reconnaissance for the military. Well, Travis, the commander at the Alamo, gave Johnny a letter to deliver to Sam Houston. In it he pleaded for Colonel Houston to send reinforcements to help defend against Santa Ana's army. But ... Johnny never delivered that message. The assumption was that he took the ring, stole some money and deserted."

"What ring?"

"Major Travis' masonic ring. He was a Mason and so was Sam Houston and he knew the request would be taken seriously if Johnny Bolton gave him the ring. Johnny was never found. His wife always said that he would never have betrayed those men. She always thought there was a spy within the mission and that this spy somehow caught Johnny and killed him before he made it to Houston."

"If Johnny Bolton is haunting the Alamo, then he must have died there or very near there", Sharpay observes. "That's the one thing I've figured out about this dead stuff. Also, that the ghost must have some reason to stay behind, like to right some wrong or something. Otherwise, I'd be seeing dead people _everywhere_. I mean think about it. Since time began, more people have died than are now alive. They outnumber us."

"Wow, that's very insightful."

"Not really, it's something I picked up from one of those Living Dead movies -- you know the one in the shopping mall."

"Oooo, that was my favorite one."

"Me, too." She smiles at him and then, takes a deep breath. "Okay... if ... and this is a big if ... If I agree to help you, will you help me?", Sharpay asks seriously.

"Absolutely, what do you need me to do?"

"Touch me", she deadpans.

"What?" Despite himself, her words cause an immediate and almost painful ache in his groan.

Completely oblivious to his reaction to her, Sharpay reaches out both hands to hold onto his. "Look, I don't know why, but whenever I'm in physical contact with you, in the hospital and on the airplane, for instance, I don't see them. The ghosts, I mean. They're gone and I experience such an incredible feeling of..."

The door opens suddenly and Ryan walks in, followed by Gabriella, Taylor and Chad. Troy and Sharpay jerk away reflexively and Troy immediately turns his back to his friends until he can get his body under control. An action that doesn't go unnoticed by his best friend, Chad.

"There are you! We've been looking for you two everywhere", Ryan tells them.

"Yeah, man. Darbus is royally pissed", Chad adds.

"Well, I just needed a break from all that history", Troy explains from over his shoulder.

Gabriella gifts him a suspicious look. "With _her_?", Gabriella asks as she points an accusing finger at Sharpay.

"Don't be like that, Gabi. Sharpay's just trying to help me", Troy explains as he's finally able to turn around.

"I'm sure she _is_." Gabriella crosses her arms over her chest and it's obvious she isn't planning on going anywhere.

"What's that supposed to mean?", Sharpay snaps as she advances on the dark haired girl.

"Hey guys, chillax, okay?" Chad stands between them and puts both of his hands out like a referee during a boxing fight.

"Yeah, Chad's right", Taylor chimes in. "Besides, it's time for dinner and you two have a lot of explaining to do with Ms. Darbus."

"Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea. I'm starved", Troy says, trying to lighten the mood.

Sharpay just rolls her eyes and starts to leave the room, but she stops suddenly, looks back at Troy and holds her hand out to him. He looks awkwardly at Gabriella, trying to convene to her that he will explain everything later. Then, he reaches out and clasps Sharpay's hand tightly as she leads him out of the room.

Gabriella follows behind them, silently fuming.

TBC

Now for the history lesson...

All that stuff about Johnny Bolton being sent to Sam Houston for reinforcements -- I made up.

Someone was sent to Houston for reinforcements, but Houston didn't have enough men to send.

Sam Houston and William Travis really were Masons. I was so excited when I found that out. It sounded really 'National Treasure' like, so I used it.

Oh, and a Venti chocolate chip thingy drink really does have 670 calories. And personally I find that to be the most shocking revelation in this chapter.

And finally, yes I know I'm weird, but I made up an entire family tree for the Bolton family to figure out how many 'greats' there should be.


	7. Dinner Plans

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

_Previously..._

_Sharpay just rolls her eyes and starts to leave the room, but she stops suddenly, looks back at Troy and holds her hand out to him. He looks awkwardly at Gabriella, trying to convene to her that he will explain everything later. Then, he reaches out and clasps Sharpay's hand tightly as she leads him out of the room._

_Gabriella follows behind them, silently fuming._

**Chapter 7: Dinner Plans**

After receiving a _royal dressing down_ from Ms. Darbus, her words, not theirs, everyone piles onto the bus to head to dinner. Luckily for Troy and Sharpay, Zeke's and Jason's escapades: sneaking off to go shopping for outrageous western wear, parading around inside the Alamo in said western wear, being bodily removed from said establishment by the security personnel, and then, disappearing until dinner, help make their little Starbucks visit seem like kindergarten stuff.

Ms. Darbus announces to the group that they are all going to Casa Rio, one of the oldest restaurants on the Riverwalk. It, according to Ms. Darbus, serves excellent Mexican food.

Sharpay gives Ryan a knowing look as they exit the bus. Then, he grabs Gabriella's hand and Sharpay grabs Troy's and they veer off to the right and run until they are out of sight of their fellow students and, more importantly, their teachers.

When they reach the end of the block, the twins finally slow down and Gabriella pulls away from Ryan's grasp.

"What are you two doing?", Gabriella shouts out the question.

"Getting us and you out of a truly boring dinner, that's what?", Sharpay explains. She is feeling exhilarated and only part of it is from the running.

"Yeah, Gabriella", Ryan says, "I mean, we're from New Mexico; don't you think we eat enough Mexican food? Why do we need to come 800 miles to eat more?"

"But we'll get in trouble", squeaks Gabriella. "Come on, Troy. It's not too late." She holds out her hand to him. "We can still catch up with our friends."

"Well...", Troy hesitates, "To be honest, I'm really not in the mood for Mexican tonight -- I-I mean food, Mexican _food_, that is."

Sharpay looks over at him with a pitying look and whispers, "Smooth, Bolton. Real smooth."

Just then, Chad and Taylor join them, both of them breathing heavily from their sprint.

"Man, that little blond can flat out run", Chad pants out. "I didn't think we'd ever catch you."

Taylor immediately senses that something is wrong and goes to her best friend's side.

"What's going on, Gabriella? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine", Gabriella says in a tone which clearly conveys she is anything but. "_They_", she points an accusing finger at Ryan and Sharpay, "dragged us away with the ruse of going to a different restaurant."

"Hey! It's not The Ruse. It's called The Landing. The Ruse would be a silly name for a restaurant. Our uncle owns it, so come on. It's right around the corner." Ryan starts to pull Gabriella with him. "We have reservations at seven."

Gabriella pulls her hand back and looks indecisive.

"I-I can't. I'll get in trouble. I need to go back." Then, she looks imploringly at Taylor.

"We'll go with you", she volunteers, ignoring the disappointed look on Chad's face.

"No", Gabriella nearly shouts. Then, she leans in closer and whispers to her friend. "I need you to go with her ... _them_. Keep an eye on her ... _them_. I don't trust her."

"I understand", Taylor says sympathetically, "but you trust Troy, don't you?"

"Troy? What's he got to do with this? You don't think he's possessed too, do you?"

Taylor just stares at her friend in amazement. For such an intelligent girl, she can't see the forest for the trees. She's so focused on this possession thing that she can't see Troy slowly drifting away from her and into Sharpay's very willing arms.

"See, isn't this fantastic!" Ryan walks into the restaurant like he owns it.

It's a huge restaurant with tall vaulted ceilings and a large stage over in the far corner. The sweet sound of jazz waifs through the air and even Taylor seems to relax a little when she realizes this is a respectable establishment and not some drug haven. Although the Evans twins and 'drug haven' really don't mix.

"This is nice", coos Chad. Chad's eyes are glued to the clarinet soloist on the stage, a beautiful young woman wearing a clinging red silk dress, who is putting all of her heart and soul into her number.

"Yeah, I told you."

Sharpay leads Troy up to the hostess station and asks for Uncle Rob. An older man, who looks remarkably like a heavier version of Ryan and Sharpay's father, comes rushing out of the kitchen, a huge smile on his broad, happy face.

"Sharpay!" He pulls her into a big bear hug and then quickly hugs Ryan who has joined them. "I'm so happy you made it. No problems with the Darbus, I hope?"

"Nope, not at all. Everything went just as planned", Sharpay confirms as her uncle guides them to an excellent table directly in front of the stage. She and Ryan introduce their friends and Uncle Rob gives Taylor a hug and hardy handshakes for Troy and Chad.

"If you'll allow me, I'll send out some generous assortments of dishes."

"That would be wonderful, Uncle Rob. I'm sure we'll love everything."

Uncle Rob rushes off again at a speed that is belied by his bulk.

"Wow, it's like trying to talk to a tornado. Does he ever walk?", Troy asks as he tries to shake the blood back into the hand from Rob's handshake.

"I've never seen it, if he does."

Two hours later, Chad leans back in his seat and sighs. He's staring at the final serving of Bambino Huey. It's the dessert specialty of the house -- cake in a cup with cream, baked twice so a delicate crust forms and then served warm with whipped cream.

"Go for it, dude", Troy urges his friend.

"No way. If I ate that I'd hurl all over the table."

Sharpay's nose wrinkles in disgust. "Please... don't."

Before anyone can say anything else, Ryan leans forward and snags the cup for himself. "Mmmmm."

Finally, the table is cleared and Ryan and Sharpay have finally finished their after dinner coffee.

"Sooo, what now?", Troy asks. He's surprised at how much he's enjoyed the evening. Sharpay's actually fun to be around when she's not scheming. Tonight she just really wanted to stay close to him. In a compromise of sorts, since they both needed their hands to eat, Sharpay has wrapped her bare leg around his shorts clad leg. They need skin to skin contact, according to Sharpay, and since she's going to help him... plus it's kinda nice, being so close to her.

"I have an idea", Chad suggests with a waggle of his brow. "Let's go back to the hotel and play strip poker!" He hasn't missed the footsie play under the table and he still hasn't had a chance to chide Troy about his embarrassing hard-on in the hotel yesterday.

"No way, Danforth", Sharpay exclaims. "That sounds like the plot of a really bad fanfic. I think...", and she looks over to Troy, meaningfully. "... we should go back to the Alamo and ... look around."

"Really?" Troy's eyes grow wide in excitement. "Are you sure about this, Shar?"

In answer, she offers her hand to him and he takes it.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Ummm, Troy? What, exactly, is going on here?", Taylor finally asks.

They've been tromping around the old mission for about ten minutes and everyone is getting bored, except Troy and Sharpay.

"I guess we need to explain some things..." Troy leads them over to a bench near a crop of cactus flowers.

"Wow...", Ryan says, breaking the silence. "That's heavy, but it actually explains a lot about Sharpay's odd behavior lately."

"Odd behavior?", Sharpay bites out.

"Yeah, I think she's been just as weird as she's always been. ... Ouch... Dang it, woman. Why are you always hitting me?", Chad stupidly asks his girlfriend.

With a bored expression on her face, Taylor says, "I'm not even going to answer that. But I will say this. I thought that story about your ancestor sounded a little sketchy. We found it in the museum this afternoon."

"We also found some stuff about Gabriella's great grandmama", Chad adds. "Seems she had the same name, Gabriella Montez."

"_Stay away from her!"_

Sharpay spins around, away from her friends, to find Johnny Bolton standing before her.

"You came!", she exclaims with a smile.

"Who?", Ryan asks.

"Shhh!", hisses Troy. "Let her talk to him. It's him, right Sharpay?"

"Yeah, it's him."

"_Who's that?"_, Johnny asks, suspiciously, indicating Troy.

"This is Troy Bolton. He's a descendant of yours."

Johnny slowly walks around Troy, studying him.

Slowly, he says, _"I had a son, Billy. It's good to know he lived to be a man."_

"Billy?", Sharpay echoes for Troy's benefit. "He says his son's name was Billy."

"Yeah, that's right. William Bolton. He married Sarah Winfield in 1860 and then, he died at the battle of Shiloh during the Civil War."

"_Civil War? My God, we go to all this trouble to become an independent country only to start a war between ourselves. That's insane"_, Johnny moans.

"So...", Ryan whispers slowly to Taylor and Chad, who are currently standing well away from Troy and Sharpay, "Is she, like, actually, talking to a dead guy?"

"Well, Troy seems to think so", Taylor observes.

"This is cracked, man", Chad adds.

"Tell him we want to help", Troy urges.

"I'm not a UN interpreter, Troy. He can hear _you_. Just talk to him." Sharpay really can't help the little eye roll.

"Okay...okay... I can do this. We want to clear your name", Troy starts calmly, but quickly becomes more fevered in his speech. "For over two hundred years, our family has lived with the shame that you betrayed..."

"_Like hell! I didn't betray nobody. Hell, fire and damnation! Haven't I suffered enough? I've been hauntin' this God forsaken hunk of stone for..._

"... and I've read all the family journals including your own so I don't be..."

"Will the two of you just shut it! God! I can't hear when both of you are shouting at me at the same time."

"You guys want to go get a Frappacino or something?", Ryan suggests, "'Cause they don't seem to care if we're here or not."

"Umm, sure", Taylor says, "but could you just bring me one back? I don't want to miss anything. Oh, and make sure you ask for non-fat milk in mine. You wouldn't believe the calories in those things."

Chad and Ryan leave with the drink orders and Taylor settles down to watch the show which is already in the second act. Sharpay and Troy are getting to the heart of the matter.

"... so I figured that your body must be buried near here or you wouldn't still be here, right?"

"_Yep."_

"He said, yep. And if we could find your body..."

"_That would prove I didn't run off."_

To Johnny, "Exactly." To Troy, "He gets it."

"So where are you? I mean where is your body buried?", Troy asks, facing around five feet to Sharpay's left.

"_It's right over there"_, Johnny points towards the archway to the right of the front entrance to the church, then he runs over towards it.

Sharpay follows and calls back over her shoulder, "It's over here ... at the archway."

Taylor and Troy follow her.

"_There was a short fence that ran along here and I saw her when I came around the corner"_, Johnny explains as he walks through the motions that lead to his death. _"I'd ... um ... noticed her before, but ... well, I'm a married man and ... she was no lady."_

"What's he saying?", Troy finally asks when Sharpay stops relaying Johnny's information.

"Umm, he's talking about some woman." Then, to Johnny, she asks, "Who was no lady?"

"_Gabriella Montez, that's who? She was ..."_, he pauses and looks bashful, _"Sorry, ma'am. Your ears shouldn't have to hear this, but she was a camp follower."_

"Camp follower?", Sharpay asks. Johnny blushes as much as a dead man can blush.

"A camp followeris a person who followed military camps in order to sell goods or services that the military doesn't supply. There were many camp followers during the revolutionary and the civil wars." Taylor happily supplies this useful bit of information.

"_Yes'm, that's right. She provided services to the men in the camp, if you understand my meanin'."_

Now, it is Sharpay's turn to blush. "Well, it is called the oldest profession."

Troy's head is turning back and forth between Sharpay and where he thinks Johnny is standing. He looks like he's watching a strange, one-person tennis match.

"What's happening? Who are you talking about? What profession?"

"Gabriella Montez", Sharpay supplies and then, quickly amends, "But not, _your _Gabriella Montez, a different one."

Troy bristles a little at Sharpay's use of the word, your, to describe Gabriella. He's almost forgotten about her.

"_That's right. She came up to me and ... well, wanted to provide her services to me. Said I should just forget about delivering that letter and come away with her. Said she knew where we could go and be safe. Well, I told her, NO! I'm a married man with a tiny little baby and I weren't interested in her. She told me it was a waste. Yep, that's what she said, 'What a waste'. Then, something hit me from behind and that was it til I came back to myself and realized I was dead. By then, they knew something had happened and Gabriella told them she saw me meetin' with one of Santa Anna's men and that I rode off in the opposite direction from Houston. That's when I noticed my hand"_, Johnny finishes on a solemn note.

Sharpay quickly relays this new information and then, asks, "What about your hand?"

Johnny holds up his right hand and shows Sharpay that his ring finger is missing. She gasps in shock.

"What's wrong?", Troy asks as he touches Sharpay's arm in concern.

"Oh no, don't touch me. I can't see him."

He quickly removes his hand and mutters, dejectedly, "I'm sorry."

"No, it's just ...", Sharpay reaches back and catches Troy hands and brings them to her, cupping them together, as if they're praying together. "You're right. We need to help him. This is wrong. The way history has treated this poor man and we need to right that wrong. His finger ... someone cut off his finger, Troy."

"Why would anyone do that?"

"_To get Travis' ring. I don't really know why anyone would want it, but that's what was on that finger."_

"For the Mason ring", Sharpay explains.

Taylor gasps loudly. All three of the others turn to look at her in concern.

"What's wrong?", Troy asks.

"I think I know where that ring ended up. We need to get back to the hotel."

Sharpay turns back to Johnny. "We'll let you know what we find out."

Ryan and Chad are walking down the street with everyone's coffees when Taylor, Troy and Sharpay come running by them.

"Bring those with you", Taylor shouts, "We'll need them. It's going to be a long night."

**TBC**

Hope I didn't insult everyone with the 'Mexican food' insult. Anybody, besides me, think it's weird that the transfer student in a high school in Albuquerque, NM, appears to be the only Hispanic student in that entire school. I'm so anal I looked up the census data for New Mexico and here's what I found. 85 of NM is white, 2 is black, 45 is Hispanic. It doesn't add up correctly because you can put yourself into more than one group. You can be both Hispanic and white.

So where were they hiding all the Hispanic students?

Favorite review: From: SoNotEmo ()

-- If doing all that math stuff means you're weird, then so am I. I'm like a research, accuracy freak when it comes to my fics. I swear, I've spent more time figuring out stuff for my stories than actually writing them. I love how this fic has one thing that's way too true in the US. Starbucks is effin' everywhere. I love how Troypay walks out holding hands and, LOL, "Touch me", that was wrong. And you know it. But that is funny. Is Chad gonna mention how Troy seemed to turn his body away from them? Like at dinner the second Sharpay walks away? Now, I wonder how many people are going to be walking around during dinner 


	8. Now We're Getting Somewhere

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

_Previously..._

"_For the Mason ring", Sharpay explains._

_Taylor gasps loudly. All three of the others turn to look at her in concern._

"_What's wrong?", Troy asks._

"_I think I know where that ring ended up. We need to get back to the hotel." _

**Chapter 8: Now We're Getting Somewhere**

"And just where do the five of you think you're going?" The loud, authoritative voice booms at the teenagers as they try to creep through the lobby.

"Oh, Ms. Darbus, your illustriousness." Chad croons at his most obnoxious and with a nervous little laugh adds, "We didn't see you there."

"Well, isn't that curious, Mr. Danforth, because I failed to see you at the restaurant this evening or in the bus on the way back to the hotel." She crosses her arms in front of her, waiting for an explanation.

"Yeah... about that", Ryan starts. "We tried to catch that bus, but it wouldn't stop for us."

"Really?", Ms. Darbus' voice rises an octave in disbelief.

"Yep, sure did", Chad confirms with zest, "You probably didn't see us in the restaurant since we were sitting ... WAY ... in the back."

"Is this true, Miss McKessie?", Ms. Darbus singles out the student whom she feels is the most honest.

"Well...", Taylor starts slowly.

However, Ms. Darbus never knew about the criminal mastermind who engineered the hijacking of the computer intranet server during last year's championship basketball game / decathlon.

"Actually..." Taylor's eyes shift nervously back and forth from Ms. Darbus ... to Chad ... to Ryan ... to Sharpay and then, ... to Troy. Then, she seems to come to a decision. "Actually, the food at Casa Rio is quite inferior to that of similar restaurants back home. Their green chicken enchiladas aren't nearly as good as Los Cuates'. I just love that restaurant."

"Oh", Ms. Darbus says thoughtfully. "You know, Taylor ..." Taylor is starting to sweat. "I couldn't agree with you more. This TexMex", she says in distaste, "doesn't have the same pizazz as _our_ Mexican food."

"Aye que fabulosa ", Ryan rolls his tongue over the Spanish words. "Caliente!", he throws in for flair.

"Uh, yeah. And ... uh, suave!" Chad fumbles over the words, only remembering that one word from Ryan and Sharpay's call back audition. He is now realizing that he should have chosen Spanish instead of American Sign Language for his foreign language requirement. He is also now realizing that suave must not be an appropriate thing to say to Ms. Darbus because she is eying him like his cellphone just went off in the middle of a test.

Ryan tries valiantly to save the situation. Melodious strands of music waft out of the hotel night club and into the lobby. He looks straight at Ms. Darbus and bravely utters the words that will seal his fate (at least for the next two hours). "¿Ms. Darbus, quieres bailar? Ms. Darbus blushes prettily.

During this very interesting and completely confusing conversation, Taylor motions to Troy and Sharpay and they quietly sneak out of the lobby and toward the rooms.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Once they are safely away from the lobby and following Taylor through the twisting hotel, Troy asks, "Okay, so what's going on? You're being awfully mysterious, Taylor."

"And what about the lying to Darbus? I find that much more shocking." Sharpay puts in.

"I didn't lie", Taylor says, defending herself. Sharpay opens her mouth to protest, but Taylor shushes her. "I didn't. I read a food critic review of famous Mexican restaurants, including Casa Mia and Los Cuates. I just repeated it. I never actually said I was there."

"Wow, that's right. You know, Taylor, with a view of truthfulness like that, you should consider a career in politics. I'd vote for you." Just then, Sharpay realizes they've stopped walking and they've standing in front of Sharpay and Gabriella's room, not Taylor's.

"Why are we here?", she asks.

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too", Troy chimes in.

"Because this is where the ring is", Taylor explains quietly. Sharpay's eyebrows shoot up at this while Taylor ignores her and quietly knocks on the door. There is no answer.

"Here, let me", Sharpay offers. She pulls out her keycard and swipes it through the reader. She opens the door and light from the hall streams into the darkened room.

"This is kinda spooky", Troy whispers. "Where's Gabi?"

Sharpay walks two steps inside and is immediately hit in the head with a bucket of cold water, followed closely by the bucket itself.

"Owww!", she yells and then, starts cursing. "Damn it, what the hell was that?"

The light snaps on and Gabriella comes staggering towards her carrying a half empty bottle of wine and brandishing her cross in front of her.

"Be gone from, hiccup , here, demon. Be gone and don't come back." She's wildly swinging the wine bottle around and Troy swiftly reaches over and removes it from her hand before she hurts anyone.

"Gabriella", Taylor starts in a menacing tone, "what ... are ... you ... doing?"

"Isn't it ob-obvious? I'm ex—ex—exercising, Sharpay."

"That's ex_**or**_cising, you moron", Sharpay groans at her as she wipes the water out of her eyes while trying to not ruin her makeup.

"See! That's proof that it's true."

"Speaking of _proof._.. You seem to be about 100 Proof."

"Yeah, well", she seems to be struggling to find a response. "You guys should have been here hours ago and ... I was thirsty. See, the wine is supposed to represent the blood of Jesus and that was holy water in the bucket." Then, she turns quickly towards Troy and within a second, she's in his face. "Where have you been, anyway? Ms. Darbus will probably suspend you all." Her voice drops to a harsh whisper.

Troy steps back away from her when her wine-soaked breath hits him full in the face.

"I don't think we're going to be in any trouble", Sharpay explains. "However, you might ... if Ms. Darbus finds out you've been drinking."

"Who are you accusing of drinking? I'm not the one who nearly drown myself."

"That's not fair, Gabi", Troy intervenes between the two. "She hasn't drank anything since then."

"Excuse me", Taylor says in a raised voice, "but I didn't come here to discuss the excessive drinking habits of high school girls. If I wanted to do that, I'd be reading Reviving Ophelia. I came here to see the ring." They all stop talking and stare at her in rapt attention. "Gabi, the ring, please?"

"Ring? What ring?", Gabriella says with anger in her voice. Then, she grabs Taylor by the arm and pulls her off to the side. She whispers desperately to her friend. "You promised you would never tell anyone about that ring, Taylor. I wasn't supposed to even tell you about it. It's a family secret and you promised." Her voice has risen to a whinny pout by the time she finishes and Troy and Sharpay are staring intently at the two of them.

"Taylor? Are you saying that Gabriella has the ring?", Troy asks incredulously.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Why do you care anything at all about a family heirloom?", Gabriella asks in honest confusion.

"Family heirloom? Do you even know what that ring is?"

"Of course, I do", Gabriella starts, but before she can explain, Chad runs it.

"What'd I miss?"

"Shhhh", Troy, Sharpay, and Taylor say simultaneously.

"Go ahead, Gabriella", Taylor urges.

Gabriella takes a deep breath. "Okay, my many times great grandmother, the one who was a survivor of the Alamo, received it from her ... um ... fiancé right before he died. He was William Travis, the commander of the Alamo. He...he never even knew she was pregnant." Gabriella chokes out the final statement with great emotion.

"Dang!", comments Chad. "It didn't even know premarital sex had been invented back then."

The other four do the responsible thing and just ignore him.

"So... you know where the ring is?", Troy asks excitedly.

"Y-yes." Gabriella slowly reaches under the neck of her blouse and starts pulling out a long chain. Out pops a large gold ring.

Sharpay scrutinizes Gabriella's blouse wondering how she hid that large ring under there and silently cursing her own flat chest.

Gabriella takes the ring off its chain and holds it up for everyone to see. It's a gold ring with the traditional Masonic symbols of a crossed compass and square imprinted on it.

"May I?", Troy implores her and he holds out his hand for the ring.

"Why?"

"It's a long story", Sharpay adds. She's standing to the right and slightly behind Troy and is lightly touching his arm. This room makes her nervous, knowing the shower ghost is just on the other side of the door.

Gabriella gives her an unreadable look, but there's definitely nothing friendly there.

"I've got all the time in the world", she finally says.

"Allow me", Chad offers as he sits down on the bed to get comfortable. "It's like this. Troy Senior was a scout, but not a boy scout, and he was supposed to deliver a letter and that ring", he points to Gabriella's ring, "to Houston, the man, not the city, 'cause that didn't exist yet. Except, Troy Senior disappeared, along with the letter and ring and some money. That's what history says, but it's wrong. Troy Senior told us, well, actually, he told Sharpay, but that's an even longer story. Anyway, Troy Senior told Sharpay that Gabriella Senior came onto him and wanted to do the nasty, but Tony Senior said, Hell no, woman. I'm married. Which I totally understand 'cause that's exactly what I'd do in that situation." He winks at Taylor and she stands a little taller with pride for her boyfriend.

"Where was I? Oh yeah, well, apparently she doesn't take rejection well and she popped him. Or rather she had someone else kill them and then, somebody... cut off his finger to get that ring." Chad points accusingly at the ring.

Gabriella looks at the ring she's holding with disgust and promptly drops it. The ring starts rolling and Troy hits the floor trying to catch it before it rolls under anything. He grabs it just as it's about to go under the bed and snatches it up.

"Let me get this straight", Gabriella starts, not the least bit upset about dropping a ring which was cut off a dead man's hand. "You think my great great great great great grandmother killed someone."

"You know ...", Sharpay tells her, "when Troy said that many_ greats_, it sounded informed, but when you say it, it just sounds anal." She's still ticked off about the holy water trap.

Troy quickly steps in between the two girls before they start swinging at each other. He seems to be doing this a lot lately.

"Please... just stop. We've got a mission and this isn't helping."

"A mission? What mission?", Gabriella asks.

"We're going to change history."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Sharpay pulls the minivan into the alley at the back of the hotel and looks over at Troy with a smile as she closes her cell phone. "He'll call the right people. We just need to do our part." Troy squeezes her knee back in reassurance.

Ryan jumps out of the side door and lands in a crotched position. He's wearing a black wool watch cap, black turtle neck, and black slacks.

"Puleeze, Ryan. You look ridiculous and you're probably going to pass out from heat exhaustion. It must still be in the 80's and it's after midnight", Sharpay tells him for the hundredth time.

Taylor, Chad, and Gabriella come out a side door of the hotel and quickly pile into the back of the van. Troy is holding a map on his lap which he is studying with a flashlight.

"Okay, here's the plan", Troy starts as Sharpay pulls out of the alley. "The tools are in the back and ..."

"You stole tools?", Gabriella asks in shock.

"No, Gabriella. The tools were already in the van when we killed the owner and carjacked this vehicle. His body's in the back too", Sharpay bites back sarcastically.

Ryan speaks up to explain more calmly. "No, Gabriella. We rented the van at the airport and then found a 24-hour Home Depot where we bought the tools."

"Anyway, as I was saying... We know where the body's buried..."

"Body?", Gabriella squeaks.

"Johnny Bolton, remember he's been dead for over 150 years. Anyway, when we find his body we'll be able to prove he was an innocent victim and not a traitor."

They arrive at the Alamo and quickly unload the picks and shovels from the van.

"You know, I think this is really exciting", Chad comments to Ryan as they drag the heavy equipment over toward the mission. He looks over at Ryan and notices that the blond man is limping slightly. "Hey, are you okay, man? You're limping."

"I'm fine. It's just ... well, Ms. Darbus stepped on my foot when we were tangoing."

"Ouch!"

"Yeah, but it got me out of dancing anymore. Plus, she felt so bad about hurting me that I think she's going to forgot the whole dinner thing."

"Good work and quick thinking, by the way. You saved our rears, dude." Chad grins over at Ryan.

"Glad to help", Ryan grins back at him and starts humming a familiar tune under his breath.

Chad joins in and they quickly run across the short open space together.

"Oh, hell", groans Sharpay. She's struggling to lift the heavy pick off the ground. "Am I losing it or are they humming the theme from Mission Impossible?"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

With an unlady-like swipe of the back of her hand under her dripping nose, Sharpay drops the heavy tool to the ground. "Okay...", she wheezes with her hands braced tightly on her knees, "this is the spot. Y-you guys start swinging. I'm taking a break." She walks over to a low stone wall and slumps to the ground.

"All you did was carry one pick a couple of yards. I'd hardly think that would wear you out", Taylor points out.

"Hey, this medium stuff is tiring, you know."

"_It kin be very drainin' on the living to converse with the dead_", comments Johnny. He's sitting casually on the wall next to Sharpay.

"Jesus! Johnny, don't sneak up on a girl like that. Are you trying to send me to an early grave?" Sharpay flushes when she realizes what she said. "Oh, I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me."

"_It's alright, ma'am. Don't fret yerself_", he points to Chad who has just started swinging the pick. "_They're off a little. I'm over to the left about three feet."_

"Hey, Chad. Johnny says you're digging in the wrong spot. Move over that way about three feet", Sharpay points to her left. Then, she turns back to Johnny. "It won't be much longer and don't worry, we'll tell the world they were wrong about you. I promise."

Gabriella is standing next to Taylor who is watching intently for any sign that their mission might be discovered. Waving a lazy hand in Sharpay's direction, Gabriella asks, "Do you _really_ believe she's talking to a dead person?"

"Excuse me?", Taylor snaps, "You dumped a whole bucket of holy water on her head because you thought she was possessed by a demon, but you have trouble believing she can speak to ghosts? To quote Chad, '_That's cracked'_, Gabi." With a disgusted look at her friend, Taylor walks a few feet away and continues to scan the area.

"_Gabi? Is that your Gabriella Montez?_", Johnny asks Sharpay. He's glaring intently at Gabriella.

"Oh no, she's not _mine_, but yes, that's Gabriella."

"_She looks nothing like the one I knew. She looks nice. The Gabi I knew looked ... well, like what she was, if you understand my meanin'._"

"I think so ... kinda skanky?"

"_Skanky? I don't know that word._"

"Ummm, let's see... skanky ... it means ..."

"Skanky, one who is disgustingly foul or filthy and often considered sexually promiscuous. Used especially when referring to a woman or girl", Gabriella provides helpfully.

Johnny looks over at her, surprised that she has inserted herself into the conversation. "_Oh. Well then, yeah, skanky is the right word._"

Sharpay looks over at Gabriella also, in equal surprise. "Um, thanks", she says awkwardly.

"No problem. What are we talking about, anyway?"

"Nothing important, really. You know, just ghosty stuff."

Gabriella turns away from Sharpay in disgust. She stomps over to the edge of the building and stands there pouting, feeling like she's being cut out of everything.

Fifteen minutes later, Troy's digging in a pit about three feet deep when his shovel hits something solid. "Hey, guys! I think I've found something", he shouts enthusiastically.

Everyone rushes over to the site to take a look.

"Oh my God", gasps Ryan when Troy brushes away some of the dirt, "it's a skeleton."

"And look!", Chad uses his flashlight to point at one of the skeleton's fingers. "He's missing his ring finger on his right hand."

"_That's me, a'right_", comments Johnny. He's standing behind Sharpay and peering into the hole too.

"You okay with this?", Sharpay asks sympathetically.

"_I'm fine with it. 'Specially if it clears my name._"

"He's holding something", Taylor points out with her flashlight. "It looks like a saddle bag. Can you get it out?"

"Not without breaking his arms off."

"Ewwww", Ryan and Gabriella say simultaneously.

"I ain't touchin' that", Chad says.

"_Just do it, please_", pleads Johnny. "_That's the proof you need._"

"Johnny wants us to do it. He says the proof's in that bag."

Troy takes a deep breath and announces, "I'll do it." He bends down over the skeleton, grabs the saddle bag ... and pulls.

Ryan covers his mouth with his hand. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Chad wrinkles his nose. "That's sick and not the good kind of sick."

Taylor is looking over his shoulder. "I concur."

Sharpay looks a little ill. "That is just nasty."

Gabriella looks straight at Troy in horror. "I can't believe you did that, Troy. You desecrated that grave."

Troy steps out of the grave with the saddlebag; however, Johnny's skeletal hands are still hanging on. When Troy pulls on the bag the arms break off and the bony fingers stay attached.

Sharpay is first to defend Troy. "Johnny told him to do it, Gabriella."

"So you say", Gabriella scoffs.

However, Troy isn't the one to jump in between the two this time. This time it's the San Antonio Police Department. Suddenly, bright lights are flashing in their eyes, blinding them.

"This is the police", a deep, masculine voice booms through the night air. "Everyone lock your hands together on top of your heads."

Troy looks down at the saddlebag and frowns. He doesn't want to put it down; after all, they're so close. Instead he raises the bag high above his head.

"Holy shit! That kid's got a skeleton in his hands", one of the officers announces. There must be at least five officers quickly making their way towards the group.

"Must be one of those cults I heard about on 20/20", answers another.

"Damn it! It's not fair", Sharpay moans, "We were so close."

A policeman grabs one arm and then another and quickly places Sharpay's hands in handcuffs. Other officers are similarly arresting her friends.

"I have to advise you, young lady, that you have the right to remain silence, if you..."

**TBC**

Author Notes: I had to get my cute, sexy nerd to help me with the translations for the Spanish since I, like Chad, am more comfortable with ASL.

"Aye que fabulosa" -- How wonderful

"Caliente!" -- hot (as in temperature)

"suave" -- handsome (only appropriate for a male)

"¿quieres bailar?" -- do you want to dance?

I know 20/20 is not on anymore, but I loved that show.

To PlutoForPlanethood04: I loved the Gabriella Sr. and Gabriella Jr. stuff, so I stole it. Thanks.

To Enarra: I hope I have redeemed myself about the food. TexMex is nothing like real New Mexican Mexican food and my favorite meal is Chili Rellenos.

My thanks to The Road of Damascus for telling me about Reviving Ophelia. I have it on reserve at the library, so I haven't started it yet, but I checked out Ophelia Speaks which is awesome. It's a series of essays by teenage girls all over the country discussing their individual problems. And, the best part was, it was put together by a highschooler.


	9. Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

_Previously..._

"_Damn it! It's not fair", Sharpay moans, "We were so close."_

_A policeman grabs one arm and then another and quickly places Sharpay's hands in handcuffs. Other officers are similarly arresting her friends._

"_I have to advise you, young lady, that you have the right to remain silence, if you..."_

**Chapter 9: Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law**

"Ya know... This isn't what I thought prison looked like", comments Chad as he gazes around the unadorned room. "I mean ... it's clean, for one thing. And very... concrete. Yeah, that's it. Early concrete."

And he is right. The walls are concrete; the ceiling is concrete; the floors are concrete; and the hard, cold benches they're sitting on are concrete. About the only thing which isn't concrete are the thick steel rings equally spaced and cemented into the benches. Each of them is currently handcuffed to one of these hooks and has the other hand free.

"Technically, this isn't prison, Chad. This is just a holding cell until they get us booked", Taylor grumbles to him.

"How do you know that?"

"My Brownie troop took a tour of a police station when I was in the first grade."

"Wow, I can't even remember my first grade teacher's name."

Troy immediately reached for Sharpay as soon as the officers switched their handcuffs to the bench ring. She had an anxious look on her face.

"You okay?", he asks with concern.

"I am now", Sharpay replies with so much earnestness that Troy's heart swells with pride. "You know how they took our shoelaces and belts?"

"Yeah, so we wouldn't try to commit...", Troy trails off as he realizes her earlier angst.

"Right... it didn't always work."

"Oh, Shar... I'm so sorry", he chokes out as he grips her hand more tightly. Someone must have killed himself in this holding cell and Sharpay was forced to look at him. It can't be pleasant. "You know, you're so different than the person I knew, or thought I knew during the summer", he whispers gently, so the others won't overhear. "I-I think you're really special and I think I'd really like to get to know you better." He has to stop to clear his throat before continuing. "So...maybe when we get back home, we could go out together or something." He's looking deeply into her eyes and she's staring at him like she can't believe what she's hearing.

"If I knew this was all it took to get you, I would have died ages ago", Sharpay says with sincerity. "Of course, I'd _like_ to _go . out . together_, but I'd _love_ the _something_." She lifts her eye brows in a lascivious manner which causes Troy to swallow hard and blush even harder.

He leans in closer to her and purses his lips in preparation for a kiss; Sharpay, in turn, moves closer to Troy and she closes her eyes as her heart starts to beat faster; both of them are oblivious to their surroundings.

Suddenly, their perfect moment is broken when the door slams open and the largest of the arresting officers looms in the doorway.

"Which one of one is Miss Evans?", he asks in a loud, lumbering voice.

"That'd be me", Sharpay indicates with the hand that is clasp together with Troy's.

The policeman steps aside to reveal the much smaller, but no less impressive personage of Montague Forester.

"Mr. Forester? How did you get here so quickly? I thought you were in California", Sharpay exclaims happily.

"I was actually on my way to handle your other matter when I received your second phone call in as many days", he explains as walks up to her with confidence and a definite air of sophistication. He immediately notices Troy and Sharpay's joined hands, but does not comment.

"Come along now, don't be all night, my good man", he says, addressing the police officer, "release these children immediately."

"Children...", Taylor and Chad, both grumble under their breaths.

"Yes sir", snaps the policeman and two others join him as they uncuff the teenagers.

The, now, helpful and solicitous, officer leads them to a small room with one table in the center of the room and two metal chairs facing each other across the table. This is undoubtedly an interrogation room. A tall, spindly man is facing away from them, leaning over the table studying something which is hidden from everyone's view.

"Well, Dr. Lancaster", Montague Forester starts, "Is this worth a little unauthorized grave digging?"

The man whirls around to face Mr. Forester. He looks as excited as a small child on Christmas morning. "Oh yes! Mr. Forester! This is ... well, there are no words to express my delight."

"I have to be on my way. I have another matter to handle before the night is over", Mr. Forester says as he gives a meaningful nod to Sharpay and starts for the door, but stops at the threshold and turn back to Dr. Lancaster. "But Lancaster, how about a thank you to the young people who made this possible?"

"Of course, how rude of me? Thank you. Thank you for solving one of the biggest mysteries of The Republic of Texas."

"You opened the saddlebag", Troy states as he bolts across the room, dragging Sharpay with him. "Please, tell me... what's inside?"

"And who might you be?", Dr. Lancaster asks suspiciously.

Sharpay steps in front of Troy, seemingly to protect him from this strange man. "He's Troy Bolton, a direct descendant of the man whose grave we exhumed tonight. I think we need to ask the same question, though. Who are you, exactly?"

"A direct descendant, you say?", Dr. Lancaster steps around Sharpay to address Troy. "This is fascinating, truly fascinating. Do you, by any chance, have any historical documents from that time? It's a hobby of mine, you see? Oh... oh, please forgive my rudeness. I'm Burt Lancaster...", Ryan guffaws loudly at this.

Burt turns an indulgent eye to Ryan, "Yes, I know it's funny, but I wasn't allowed to pick my own name." Then, he turns back to Troy. "I'm the curator of the Alamo. Are you whom I should be thanking for this remarkable find?"

"Actually, it's Sharpay", Troy explains honestly, "You see, she sees..."

"Oh Troy, please... all the credit belongs to you", Sharpay insists forcefully. "It was your painstaking research which lead us to Johnny's grave, after all." She gives him a 'please go along with me on this one' look and Troy nods slightly.

"Well, in any case, please come have a look at what I've found. I actually should be looking at this in a more controlled area, but I couldn't contain my excitement." They all gather around the table and watch as Dr. Lancaster slowly unfolds a letter using tweezers to handle the delicate paper. "This", he announces in awe, "is the original letter which Lieutenant Colonel William Travis sent, or tried to send, rather, to Colonel Sam Houston. It never arrived, obviously."

_**Commandancy of the Alamo  
Bexar, Fby. 24th, 1836 **_

_**To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world Fellow Citizens & Compatriots **_

_**I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise the garrison are to be put to the sword if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender nor retreat. **_

_**Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & of everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country. **_

_**Victory or Death  
William Barret Travis  
Lt. Col. Comdt. **_

"Wow, that's heavy...", Chad comments unnecessarily.

"Is there anything in there about Gabriella Montez?", asks Gabriella as she leans closer to the letter.

"Gabriella Montez? How on earth do you know about her?", Dr. Lancaster asks as he rises up from his previously stooped position to study the young Hispanic woman.

"I'm _her_ direct descendant", Gabriella explains, hoping to impress him in the same way that Troy had.

"Oh", Dr. Lancaster says shortly. "Well, I don't actually have time to explain why such a ... _claim to fame_ ... as the young people say, is nothing to write home about." At her puzzled expression, he continues. "Look, to put it bluntly... Miss Montez was a harlot who used her body and her considerable charm to earn a living. After the massacre at the Alamo, she made outrageous claims against the estate of William Travis. She said that he was the father of her bastard son and should have a full and equal share of his holdings. Paternity was never proven; it just wasn't possible in those times. It was rumored that she possessed something of value from Travis which would prove he was involved with her, but she never came forward with it and soon thereafter she disappeared, supposedly moving further west, perhaps California."

"The ring...", Sharpay let out in a stage whisper.

"William Travis' Masonic ring? You know about that too?"

"Yes, Travis gave it to Johnny Bolton to prove that he actually came from the Alamo and wasn't a spy for Mexico", Troy explains.

"That's right. The few survivors attested to this fact when they were interviewed later."

"So..., say for instance, ...", Taylor says while giving her friend a sympathetic look. "If Gabriella Montez somehow had possession of that ring, she wouldn't be able to show anyone because everyone knew that Travis gave it to Bolton."

"Oh absolutely, the ring disappeared with Bolton. ... Wait! Was it in the grave with him? We need to find it! It's an important part of history too."

Troy looks sadly to Gabriella before saying anything and she nods quickly to give him the silent permission to continue.

"Actually, Dr. Lancaster, I have the ring or rather, the police have it. It should be with my possessions."

"That's right, Dr. Lancaster. We found it in the grave next to the saddle bag", Sharpay says with conviction. She's speaking to Lancaster, but looking directly at Gabriella.

Gabriella's eyes are shining with tears and she mouths a silent thank you to Sharpay. Sharpay nods curtly in return.

"This is absolutely, the best night of my life!", Dr. Lancaster exclaims in excitement. "I'll see about getting you all back to your hotel and if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to have that ring as part of the collection."

"Of course", Gabriella speaks up, "it's a part of history, right?"

"But we need to get back to the Alamo tonight, if you don't mind. We have some unfinished business to take care of", Troy tells him.

"Oh?"

"Yes, we want to say a few words over Johnny's grave", Sharpay adds.

"I think that's very considerate of you. You know, you six are remarkable. Most young people don't seem to care about the past anymore."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Johnny? Are you there?", Sharpay calls worriedly into the early dawn. She turns anxiously to Troy. "Where could he be? You think the police scared him off. Or ... or maybe it was us. What if, taking that saddlebag caused him to ... I don't know ... disappear ... or pass on or something."

"No, I think he'd wait to talk to us, if he could", Troy tells her as he stands next to her, but don't touch her. "Maybe, it's me." He looks down at his hand. "Maybe, I'm standing too close to you."

"No, I don't th..."

"_Howdy, what did ya find? Am I still dishonored?_", comes an nervous voice from behind.

"Shit! I told you to not do that anymore!", Sharpay says as she whirls around to face a chagrin Johnny Bolton.

"_I'm sorry, but please... what happened?_"

Before Sharpay can respond, a soft glow causes everyone to look up and stare in astonishment as a light descends out of the sky and comes to hover over the ground near them. A melodious female voice echoes across the courtyard.

"_Johnny... it's over Johnny. Your time in this purgatory is over. Come with me... come with me and I'll __take you home._"

"_Annabelle?_", Johnny says breathlessly, "_Is that you?_"

"_Yes, Johnny, it's me._"

"Annabelle?", Sharpay whispers to Troy.

"Annabelle Bolton, she was his wife. My great, great, great..."

"Got it", she cuts him off and they turn back to Johnny who has been continuing his conversation with the disembodied light.

After a few minutes of whispers between the two, Johnny walks over to Sharpay and Troy.

"_I'm going to be leaving soon. I don't have to stay here anymore. I'm free._"

Sharpay reaches out towards him, but pulls back, realizing that she can't actually touch him. She smiles sadly and says, "I'm so happy for you, Johnny."

"_There's just one thing... we wondered if you would ... that is... could we borrow your bodies?_", he asks awkwardly.

"Our what?", Sharpay swallows sharply.

"_We want to be able to touch ... really touch ... one last time_", Johnny explains.

"What's going on?", Troy asks in confusion. Everyone can see the light and hear the lilting voice, but only Sharpay can see and hear Johnny.

"They, um, want to, like, possess us or something, so they can ... um ... touch each other."

"Oh", Troy says, his bright blue eyes widening.

"Would that ... um ... be okay with you?", Sharpay asks him. "I mean, it's fine with me", she continues on quickly, "I think it's the least we could and it would mean a lot... to them, I mean."

"Yeah, you're right; it's the least we could do", Troy nods to the shining light hanging in the early dawn.

"Okay Johnny, we'll do ..."

Before Sharpay can finish she is suddenly surrounded by the shining light. It engulfs her body, her very soul and even though she realizes that she's no longer in control of her body, she is completely aware of everything that is happening. She walks closer to Troy and he turns to her. The adoration she recognizes in his eyes is so overwhelming, she very nearly starts crying.

They simultaneously reach out to one another and Sharpay's voice, but not Sharpay's words come out of her mouth.

"_I've missed you for so long, Johnny._"

Troy swallows hard and Johnny replies with Troy's vocal cords, "_Me too, Annabelle. It's been so lonely here without you._"

"_Not anymore, my love._" She stops to gaze appraisingly at his body and runs her hands tentatively over his chest and his arms. "_He looks so much like you. It's amazing._"

Troy sucks in a quick breath. "_She reminds me of you too, wife. Not so much in how you look, but in your actions. You could woop a pole cat with one arm tied behind your back and I think she could too. I can say now, Annabelle, that sometimes... I was a little scared of you_", he finishes with a slight chuckle.

Sharpay cracks a small smile and her hands still on Troy's chest, but she doesn't remove them. She glances up at the dawning of the day as the sun starts to slowly rise in the east.

"_We don't have much time here, my love._"

"_Then, we shouldn't waste the time we have._"

Troy pulls Sharpay towards her and their lips meet in an earth shattering kiss. Her hands immediately go to his head with one hand locked around his neck pulling him closer to her and the other curling around in his wavy, brown locks. They fit together seamlessly. It's like they've done this hundreds of times before.

Troy uses his tongue to probe at her lips and she willingly parts them to allow him the much anticipated access. Their hips seem to move of their volition moving closer to each other in perfect rhythm with the thrusting of their tongues against each other. Sharpay, unconsciously, lifts her right leg and wraps it around Troy, bringing her body even closer to his.

"Damn...", Chad moans, "Is that hot or what?"

"It's not them, Chad", Gabriella reminds her. "They're being possessed, remember?"

"You trying to convince me or yourself, Gabby?"

"I-I can't watch this, man. That's my sister", Ryan says as he stoically turns his back to the oblivious couple. "Tell me when it's over."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a light as bright as the noon day sun starts to slowly rise from the two entwined bodies. The light is so bright and dazzling that the teenagers are forced to shield their eyes against it. Then, as quick as a comet in the night sky, the light whizzes up and out of sight.

The four bystanders stand there dumbfounded for a few moments blinking back against the spots that are still dancing inside their eyelids.

"Hey", Chad whispers to Taylor, "it's over, right? I mean, that had to be the two spirits ascending up to heaven, or whatever, right?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Why?", she responds, still blinking her eyes rapidly.

"Then, why are they still doing the vertical humping?"

He points over to Troy and Sharpay, who seem to be ignorant of anything happening around them. They are continuing to kiss and fondle each other as if they're, well, ... possessed.

"Hey, you're right!", exclaims Ryan, indignantly. He marches over to the kissing couple and pulls them apart with all his might. "Stop it! Stop this right now! My God, Sharpay. This is a public place and this is Texas. What you're doing is probably illegal in this state."

Troy and Sharpay look at each other with identical expressions of wonder and amazement on their faces. And then, they blush furiously and look away from each other in embarrassment.

Gabriella doesn't say anything and just looks on sadly, realizing that things have changed forever.

**TBC**

I hope I haven't lost too many reading because of my slow updates. RL has been a bitch lately.

**Real history vs. made up history**

Travis really did write a letter to Houston and did make it to him, but he didn't have any forces left to send, so no reenforcement came.

Travis and Houston really were Mason, but I have no idea if Travis sent his ring (or even if he owned one) to Houston.

And of course, Gabriella Montez Sr's story is a complete fabrication.

Hope everyone liked the Troypayness at the end. If so, please let me know with a review. Thanks.


	10. The Cure

**To Speak for the Dead**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Sharpay receives a strange new gift that she doesn't want.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts immediately after HSM2, at the end of the summer.

_Previously..._

_Troy and Sharpay look at each other with identical expressions of wonder and amazement on their faces. And then, they blush furiously and look away from each other in embarrassment._

_Gabriella doesn't say anything and just looks on sadly, realizing that things have changed forever._

**Chapter 10: The Cure**

The ride back to the hotel is a quiet one, very quiet... even Chad realizes that this is not the time for conversation.

Ryan parks the van and they walk, yawning into the hotel.

"I can turn in the van here and they'll return it to Alamo rental."

"Alamo car rental?", Chad asks in surprise, "What are the odds of that?"

"Well, in this town... it seems like almost everything is named after the Alamo."

Just then, Taylor lets out a loud, unladylike yawn. "I'm gonna sleep like the dead." Then, looking at Troy and Sharpay, adds, "No pun, intended."

"It's okay. I'm _dead_ tired, too", Sharpay remarks lightly, feeling the tenseness surrounding them ease for the first time. Looking over at Troy, he returns her smile and looks down at their still joined hands. It's become like second nature to them both and they don't even remember when they relinked.

"Well, I think everyone could use a good nights sleep", Gabriella snaps, "and then, we'll see ... things much more clearly."

Troy stops walking and unconsciously pulls Sharpay closer to him before addressing Gabriella. "Gabby... maybe it would be a good idea for us a have a long talk then."

Before Gabriella can respond, Ms. Darbus sweeps into the lobby, but instead of attacking them as would be expected, she has a huge smile on her well-rested face.

"Good morning! I must say I'm surprised to see you here so early. I hope everyone had a restful night because I know, I always find air travel to be very tiring. I believe today they have breakfast burritos. There's nothing like a few jalapeños to start off your day. Eat well and then we'll be loading the buses and heading to the airport."

She pulls Ryan away from the others and whispers to him. "I do hope your foot is feeling better, Mr. Evans."

"Oh, yes ma'am. And yours?"

"I recovered quite nicely. Thank you for inquiring."

She, obliviously, leads the opened mouthed teenagers into the breakfast room.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"I can't believe we got away with that", Taylor says as they leave breakfast thirty minutes later.

Chad is walking next to her with Ryan on his left. "Yeah, that was the most amazing luck I've ever seen."

Troy and Sharpay are following them with an ever watchful Gabriella bringing up the rear.

The lobby is starting to fill up with East High students who look, surprisingly, more ragged and tired than our heroes. There must have been some serious partying going on here last night.

Suddenly, Sharpay stops short and gasps as she stares at the stack of complimentary newspapers on the counter.

"I can't believe it!" She runs over to the newspapers and drops Troy's hand so she can pick up the paper. "Look at this!"

The headlines of the San Antonio Express-News reads, "**30 Year Old Murder Case Reopened!**".

"Listen everyone...", Sharpay says as she reads.

_Justice has finally been served in the tragic death of Louise Crisholm, resident of Lubbock, Texas. Mrs. Chisholm died in 1982 in what was then deemed to be an accidental electrocution. However, evidence has recently been discovered that Mrs. Chisholm was actually murdered. Police are investigating this case further and feel sure that charges will be brought forward soon._

"Isn't that awesome?" Sharpay is nearly jumping up and down with enthusiasm.

Everyone, but Troy, is staring at her strangely.

"Is she the old lady in your shower?", he says.

"Yes! I called Mr. Forester and he must have taken care of it. Man, he works fast."

"Let's hope he works just as fast for Johnny", Troy says solemnly.

"Oh, babe...", Sharpay drops the newspaper and takes both of Troy's hands in hers. "I know he will. And even if it takes awhile, at least we know his soul's at rest now. He's with Annabelle, right?"

There is dead silence in the lobby as Sharpay gazes lovingly up into Troy's crystal blue eyes. Oblivious to the sudden silence, Troy returns her gaze with one of his own and finally allows himself to remember the kiss they shared a few short hours ago... the kiss that became their own when Johnny and Annabelle left them. Slowly, he bends his head down to hers and meets her lips with his own in a slow, sweet kiss.

Their moment is suddenly interrupted by a shrill voice. "Damn you, Sharpay! How could you!" An extremely angry Gabriella screams at them and then turns and flies out of the lobby towards her room.

Troy and Sharpay jerk apart, but by the time they look for her, Gabriella is already racing out of the room. The rest of their schoolmates, who were so engrossed in watching the two of them a minute ago, start to turn away and mill out back to their rooms to pack up for the trip home.

"I'm sorry", Troy apologizes, "I shouldn't have done that."

"No... it's my fault", Sharpay insists, quietly. She looks down at their conjoined hands and slowly pulls away.

"Don't", he insists, more harshly than he intended. He pulls her hands back to him. "It's nobody's fault. I love you, Sharpay. We can't let anyone come between us and we don't need to feel any guilt over that. We don't chose who we fall in love with ... it just happens."

"That's ... beautiful, Troy."

"It's something I read in Johnny's journal."

"Ah, there you are", comes that aristocratic voice that they instantly recognize.

Montague Forester is striding across the lobby and looking like he just stepped out of an advertisement for Brooks Brothers.

"I'm glad I caught the both of you before you left."

"Oh, Mr. Forester, I can't believe how quickly you found out about Mrs. Chisholm. You're amazing", Sharpay gushes happily to the older man.

"My dear, you're the amazing one. Without your help, no one would have ever known." Sharpay blushes slightly and leans into Troy's side. Mr. Forester frowns slightly, but continues. "I just wanted to let you know that Johnny Bolton's name will soon be cleared and the museum curator is having a bronze plaque commissioned to commemorate his role in protecting the Alamo."

"That's wonderful, Mr. Forester. My family and I are very grateful to you", Troy reaches for Mr. Forester's hand and gives it a firm handshake to show his appreciation.

"Ah yes, you must be Johnny's descendant..."

"Troy Bolton, sir", Troy offers.

"Yes...", Montague sighs deeply as he studies the two of them. They are standing very close together and Sharpay is leaning into Troy's side, seeming to find comfort in this closeness. Their fingers are entwined and they look like they never want to let go.

"Mr. Bolton... I wanted to discuss something very serious with you before you leave for Albuquerque. I've noticed your closeness to Miss Evans."

Troy tenses slightly at his scrutiny and he feels Sharpay do the same.

"Troy makes me feel ... safe", Sharpay admits, not sure where this conversation is going. "But I'm not sure why that's any of your business."

"It's very much my business if it interferes with your abilities. You aren't the first Level Six Medium to find the one person in the world who can short circuit their abilities."

"Short circuit?"

"Yes, when there is direct skin-to-skin contact with the two of you, he interrupts the electromagnetic pulses which tap into the sensitized area of your brain that allows you to contact the spirit world. In effect, he short circuits your brain." Mr. Forester finishes his explanation and takes a long pause to see their reaction.

Sharpay looks up at Troy and seems to be studying him. So serious is her stare, that Troy starts to become nervous about what she must be thinking. Then, she looks back to Mr. Forester.

"I prefer to think of him as an anchor, not some complicated electromagnetic do-hickey. He's my anchor; he keeps me grounded and keeps away all the demons. I also love him very much." Sharpay ends with a big smile on her face as she turns back to Troy.

"Wow...", Troy murmurs quietly, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

"Still...", Mr. Forester interrupts, "I must protest."

"Look!", Sharpay snaps at him. "I really appreciate all the help you've given us, but my life is really none of your business. Plus, we have some packing to do. We're going home today. Goodbye, Mr. Forester."

She turns away from him and pulls a very willing Troy along with her and towards the rooms.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

It's their first day back at school and Troy pulls his rambling, old, beat-up truck up in front of Sharpay's over-sized, over the top mansion. For the first time, he's starting to feel nervous. They'd gotten back into town last night and he and Sharpay had spent most of the night texting each other. They'd talked about everything and nothing for hours. It was a wonderful night in more ways than one. The curator of the Alamo called his dad to give him a heads up about the discovery of Johnny Bolton's grave. Without having to be told, Jack Bolton guessed that Troy had had a very significant role in that discovery, but had declined to mention his suspicions. Instead, he smiled knowingly and hugged Troy and thanked him for not giving up on something in which he truly believed.

But now... how was he supposed to compete with the Evans fortune?

His anxiety is momentarily forgotten when Sharpay comes bouncing out of the large ornate front entrance. He smiles contentedly at her and jumps out to run around and open the door for her.

"Thanks", she murmurs as she settles onto the bench seat of the truck.

Troy rushes back around and is just about to put the truck in gear when he looks over at Sharpay and clears his throat. "You know... the real reason guys buy trucks with bench seats?", he waggles his eyebrows lasciviously as he pats the seat right next to him.

Sharpay understands quickly and unfastens her seatbelt and slides over to him, sitting thigh to thigh.

"That's better."

"Yeah, it is", she replies as the truck pulls off towards the school.

"Was everything okay at your house? I mean... without me to touch you", says Troy and then, he immediately cringes at his words. "God, that sounds so twisted."

Sharpay smiles at his discomfort. "Yeah, it does", she croons. "But yeah, everything was fine. I think my house is new enough that nothing fatal has ever taken place there. Daddy never buys anything second hand -- new house, new cars, new helicopter. You know."

"Good, I'm glad." He looks around nervously before continuing. "Hey Sharpay? Are you okay with this?"

"This?"

"You know ... me picking you up in an old, used truck." He's fidgeting nervously on the steering wheel and appearing to be concentrating on the road.

"Troy Bolton! I'm surprised that you would think that I'm that shallow", exclaims Sharpay.

They stop at a red light and Troy looks over at her incredulously.

"Okay", she admits, "so I am that shallow, but not with you. I swear. You could pick me up on an old bicycle and I'd be proud to perch myself on your handlebars."

"_Perch yourself on my handlebars?_" He treats her to another well deserved brow waggle. "That sounds more twisted than me touching you."

"Ooooo, I'd be glad to touch you anywhere you want while I'm perched on your handlebars", Sharpay coos seductively as she reaches over to squeeze Troy's upper thigh.

His eyes grow wide in surprise and he swallows a large lump in his throat. Before he realizes what's happening, they're leaning towards each other and their lips are only millimeters apart when they suddenly jerk apart at the loud blast of a car horn behind them. Troy looks up quickly to see that the traffic light is green and he quickly drives away.

They sit in companionable silence for the rest of the trip and quickly link hands as they are walking into the school.

"We're not in every class together, you know. Will you be alright?", Troy asks with concern.

"I'll be fine. I've only ever seen one spirit here and he's down on the track. In fact...", Sharpay trails off as she looks towards the track field. "Maybe I should go have a talk with him."

"Sharpay Evans? Purposefully, seeking out ghosts to try to right their wrongs? Maybe we should start calling you Ghost Girl or something. Oh, this is good", Troy says animatedly. "How about a skin tight bathing suit uniform like Wonder Woman with a cape like Superman?"

She smiles up at him indulgently. "Only if I get to wear a diamond tiara."

They're almost at the school doors when they hear the sound of a loud sigh. Gabriella Montez is standing in front them, blocking their path.

"Gabby?", Troy whispers.

"Troy. Ready for that talk now?", she seethes at him.

"Oh... well", Troy looks nervously to Sharpay who interrupts him by saying, "It's okay, I'll go talk to that track star and we'll compare notes later."

"If you're sure?"

"I am."

Sharpay turns around and heads down towards the track.

Turning back to Gabriella, Troy asks, "You're right, Gabby. It's time we talked."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Ummmm, hi there. You getting ready for the big meet on Saturday?" Sharpay tries to sound conversational. She's sitting on the bleachers closest to where the 1970's era track star is stretching.

He snaps his head up at her voice and looks at her in disbelief. His disbelief turns to swagger when she observes her long blond hair, skin tight tank top and lowest riser jeans. He stands up tall and pulls a hair pick out of his back pocket and starts to pick and shape his voluminous afro as he struts over.

"Hey there, sweet mama, how's it hangin? I ain't never seen you around here before."

"Oh God, I'm being picked up by a dead guy", Sharpay moans. "Maybe, this isn't such a good idea."

"Hey! Who you callin' dead?", he says indignantly. "I ain't dead. I'm just stuck is all."

"Stuck? Sweetie, judging from your clothes and language, I'd say you've been dead for about 30 years. So, what gives? Why are you still here? Never got a chance to finish that last big race? And let's make it snappy; I've got to get to class." She glances down at her watch. "Final bell rings in seven minutes." She sounds more snarky than she originally intended, but this jerk is really getting on her nerves.

The young African American man gets a sudden look of despair on his face and he sits down on the bleacher next to Sharpay.

"I'm sorry, miss. It's just I didn't want you to think I was some sort of retard, mama's boy. But I can tell you, I've done a lot of crying for my mama over the years. It's pretty lonely here, with no one to talk to."

"So what's wrong? Why can't you move on?"

"It's about my mama, actually. She thinks I ODed on heroine, but I didn't. My coach gave me something to help me run faster ... and I did. Boy, did I run faster. Except I couldn't stop running and my heart finally gave out. They told my mama that I was a user and took too much heroine. So I figure until I can tell her the truth, I'm stuck right here."

"Maybe I can do something to help you", Sharpay says sympathetically.

"Oh yeah", he says with a devious smile, "cause I been alone for a very long time."

"Ewww! No dead guy sex! Got it?", Sharpay jumps and starts to head back to school, but stops and turns back to him. "Oh, by the way, what's your name and when did you die?"

He tells her the information and she promises to do what she can.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"How'd it go?", Troy walks up behind Sharpay and joins her as they walk towards homeroom.

"Fine. How about you?"

They link arms automatically and continue down the hall.

"It went okay. I think we understand each other now and she's not going to give us any problems. I just explained that you're the love of my life and she understood completely."

"Really?" Sharpay's look of disbelief is obvious.

"Something like that. What happened at the track?"

"I was just in the office checking with the secretary about former students. How'd you like to take a road trip to Las Cruces this weekend?"

"Las Cruces? What's in Las Cruces?"

"My next assignment."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

The week goes quickly and true to Troy's word, Gabriella leaves them alone. In fact, she leaves everyone alone, such that she is recoiling into a shell. Ryan decides to take it upon himself to help her and she agrees to go with him to the movies on Friday night.

Immediately after school, Troy jumps into Sharpay's pink Mustang and they hit the interstate heading south to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Three and a half hours later, they pull into the driveway of Mrs. Margaret Simmons, mother of deceased high school track star, Omar Simmons. It's an emotional hour later when they finally emerge from the distraught woman's home. She was overwhelmed by the story that Sharpay told, but it definitely had the ring of truth to it and most importantly, it gave the woman closure.

It was too late to drive back home, so after dinner at a local diner, they decide to stay at the La Quinta Inn for the night.

While waiting for the desk clerk, Sharpay looks around the cozy lobby, made to look like a family room, complete with blazing fire in the hearth. Troy looks over at Sharpay with concern when he hears her sharp intake of breath. She's staring, transfixed at the fireplace, unable to move. Quickly, Troy reaches over and grabs her hand. She immediately relaxes and looks up to him with a quick thank you.

"That was a bad one -- really bad", is all she will say.

The desk clerk completes their registration and Sharpay quickly grabs the one keycard and walks off towards the room.

"We don't have to share a room, Sharpay. I've got enough money to pay for my own", Troy insists as he carries both their overnight bags and tags behind Sharpay as she leads them to their room.

"Nonsense. It doesn't make sense to pay for two rooms when we're going to be sharing one bed."

Before he can reply, she swiftly unlocks the room door, opens it and pulls him inside.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Troy looks over at the clock and can't believe it's already ten in the morning. _Where had the time gone?_ Then, he smiles widely as he remembers. _Sharpay._

He rolls over to his other side and studies her. She even sleeps beautifully. He watches in adoration as her chest rises and falls under the white sheet covering her body. And knowing what's under that sheet...

Despite what most people think, Troy is not a blushing virgin and Sharpay is not the harlot from hell. The truth lies somewhere in between. Troy's sophomore girlfriend and first experience with sex had been Angie. Angie was a cheerleader and she was ... well ... very limber. Unfortunately, they were both inexperienced and so they fumbled their way through quite a few encounters until her family moved to Arizona. Then, there was nothing but basketball until Gabriella showed up. It didn't take long for them for reach that level in their relationship, but Gabriella always seemed to feel so guilty afterwards that it almost didn't seem worth it. She even told him that she went to confession every time they made love.

But Sharpay... My God, Sharpay is amazing -- no guilt, no inhibitions... and who knew Drama Queens were just as limber as head cheerleaders.

The rhythm of her breathing starts to change and he knows she's waking up, so he bends down to ease her into full wakefulness with a slow, sweet kiss.

"Hi", he finally says after ending the kiss.

"Hi, yourself."

"Ummm, we'd better get going. It's already after ten."

"I put the Do Not Disturb card on the door. I think we might have a few more minutes", Sharpay says as she rolls him over and straddles his hips.

"You like being in control, don't you?", Troy murmurs and he starts to caress her in the all the places that he discovered last night which drive her crazy.

"I like being on top", she replies as she slowly lowers herself onto him. "Plus, your handlebars are so nice and ... hard."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Two hours later, Sharpay is checking out of the room while Troy goes to get the car. It's taking forever and after she finishes reading the cover of the local newspaper, she starts to look idly around the room, having forgotten in her blissful state of happiness why this is a bad idea. Suddenly, she realizes what she's doing and where she's looking, but the horrific scene from the night before is nowhere to be seen.

Blinking several times to clear her vision, she tries again, but there's nothing there. Odd, but good. So why does she feel slightly disappointed that she's not seeing a tragic scene of blood and gore?

Troy rejoins her and she shakes off the feeling as they get in the car to head back home.

An hour out of Albuquerque and the sky grows suddenly dark and the wind picks up to gale force.

"This is weird. It's a little late for monsoon season", Troy says as he looks up at the darkening sky with concern.

"You think we should pull over?"

It's already starting to rain heavily and the wind is causing the little car to sway slightly on the road.

"That might not be a bad idea", Troy says as he starts to slow down the car and pull over to the side of the road.

However, before he can come to a complete stop, their Mustang is clipped from behind and the little sports car is sent spinning off the road and into a ditch and everything goes black.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Ryan runs through the emergency room doors, trailed closely behind by his parents and Mr. And Mrs. Evans. Sharpay is pacing anxiously up and down in front of an ominous looking set of closed double doors.

"Sharpay!", they all seem to shout at the same time.

"Are you okay, honey?", her mother asks worriedly. "You're cut." Sharpay's eyes are red from crying and she has a small line of stitches across her forehead.

"I'm fine; this is nothing", she casually brushes off the comment. "But they won't tell me anything about Troy. They've been working on him for over an hour." Her voice drops to a whisper when she continues, "I heard his heart stopped and they had to shock him back to life. I'm so worried."

Mr. and Mrs. Bolton immediately go to find someone in charge and see if they can see their son.

"What happened, Sharpay?", Sharpay's father asks.

"I'm not sure. It started raining heavily and then when Troy was trying to pull off to the side of the highway, something hit us and I must have gotten knocked out."

The Evans wrap their only daughter in a deep hug and try to console her.

Fifteen minutes later, the Boltons are in with Troy, but no one else is allowed to enter. Ryan pulls Sharpay over to the side to talk to her.

"How are you really doing, Sharpay? I mean it can't be easy being in this place again. You know ... with all the dead people and all."

"Dead people?", she squeaks, before realizing what he's saying. "Oh... that. I-I really haven't seen anything, Ryan. Maybe I've just been so worried about Troy that I haven't been paying any attention."

"Really? Have you ever had to concentrate before?", Ryan asks suspiciously.

"Well, no."

"Then, what's changed? What's happened between now and the last time you saw a ghost. When was that? Was it that track guy from the 70's?"

"Um, no. It was at the hotel last night", Sharpay says slowly as she thinks carefully about the last twelve hours. "But I didn't see them this morning when we were checking out."

"At the hotel? You stayed in a hotel with Troy?"

"Yeah, it was too late to drive back. I called home and told mom. Quit looking at me like that, Ryan. I'm not a child."

"That's not why I'm staring at you, Shar. Think about it for a minute. If touching his hand makes the baddie go away... then, having more intimate contact might just..."

"Oh my God! You think he short circuited me permanently?"

"I'm just guessing, but it might make sense in this crazy, mystical kind of life you lead."

"Wow, that's just..." Before she can continue, an anguished scream emits from Troy's room.

Without hesitation, Sharpay and Ryan go barreling into the room.

Troy is propped up in bed and wild-eyed with terror in his eyes.

"Keep them away! Please! Keep them away."

He's flaying around in the bed and his father is trying his best to calm him, but to no avail.

"What's wrong, honey? Please tell us, so we help", his mother pleas in a tense voice. She's trying to sound calm, but it's not working.

"Dead people! I see them everything!" Troy's shouting in a near panic now.

"My God", Sharpay asks as she hears this. She quickly rushes up and takes his hand to try and help Mr. Bolton control him before he hurts himself.

As soon as she touches him, he relaxes and comes back to himself.

"Sharpay? Oh God, it's happened to me too. It must have something to do with dying and then coming back. This is horrible, Sharpay. I don't know how you handle it. It's going to drive me insane."

Surprising everyone in the room, Sharpay looks directly into his eyes and with a big smile on her face, whispers, "Don't worry, Troy. I know the cure."

**The End**

A/N: Hey, I finally finished it. Yea me! Now I realize that my other two active stories are both very dark and depressing, but I promised I would finish them.

Please hit that little review button in the bottom left hand corner and let me know what you think.

Thanks.

BTW, Monsoon season in New Mexico is mostly in July and August and you'll get the most horrific downpour that you've ever seen in your life. Other than that, it hardly ever rains.


End file.
